Every once in a while, I will highlight an artist/song/music scene that you need to know about. I will restrain myself to sharing only that which I cannot keep to myself. Today, I am compelled share with you Local Natives, a fantastic new band out of the Los Angeles area. Please read more about their debut album, Gorilla Manor, and scroll to the bottom to download a couple of sample tracks for yourself - they are just breaking onto the scene and news of their talent will travel fastest by word of mouth. Then, you can buy their album, play it over and over, and give it to all of your friends!
Local Natives' sound derives from a number of significant recent indie touchstones. The vocal harmonies, occasionally stretched across tastefully open spaces, call to mind My Morning Jacket and Fleet Foxes. Less concerned about showcasing the limits of his voice than Seattle's ever-evanescent Foxes, their lead singer isn't afraid to break from the melody and snarl a line or two like Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock (see: the three-minute mark in "Sun Hands"). The band's single biggest strength, however, is their schizophrenic instrumentation that somehow always shuffles its way into a winning climax. The sheer amount of variation calls to mind recent work from Dodos, but with their vocals even better integrated into a fervent sonic ebb and flow. Their songs take on an Arcade Fire quality of barely-restrained emotion in the verses and cathartically cascading choruses as soon as a bow crosses strings (hey, I'm the first to admit I'm a sucker for the use of violins and cellos in pop/rock).
As debut albums go, this one is impressively promising. Among the comparisons I've made, in fact, it holds up remarkably well. While it may not join Arcade Fire's Funeral in the breakout album pantheon, their songwriting is certainly ahead of Dodos on Visiter. And although their sound may be a bit less focused than the Fleet Foxes' self-titled LP (an impressively cohesive statement of Northwest style, from harmonies to flannels), their evolution as a band has already surpassed what My Morning Jacket achieved on their first couple of albums. If anything, Gorilla Manor tantalizes, showing avenue after avenue that Local Natives could successfully pursue.
Gorilla Manor is out now (officially released Tuesday, 2/16/10) and available from the iTunes Store for $7.99 or Amazon.com for $10.99, an excellent deal either way. I am re-posting the two tracks I linked to in my most recent new music post below, and adding another favorite of mine, "Camera Talk." "Airplanes" truly does recall Arcade Fire with its yearning strings, though his petulant cry of 'I want you back' could appear a tad emotionally sophomoric compared to a dark, brooding fascination with all things funereal. "Sun Hands" is a vocal workout, showcasing the band's range. "Camera Talk," meanwhile, builds gorgeous instrumental layers and vocal harmonies across a two-faced rhythm section that alternates between propulsive rock drumming and glimmering keyboards until the two join forces and crescendo unforgettably.
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