Review:

on 2009-09-04 Archelon Said:

Is it a trio? Is it a nine-piece? No...well, we're not actually sure what it is. It's maddeningly cheery but also dastardly clever, and normally I hate cheery music. But now? I'm actually whistling.

It's certainly a gem of a record, sunny-day music, but also brimming with barely-disguised creativity. Lyrically, Tamara opens up totally to life and everything senseless in it and as a result you're affected without even knowing you have been. While the music is cheery, the folk nature of the music means you can listen and take it either way - sometimes the lyrics are amazingly, sadly beautiful, other times dry humour takes over. As dry as the Sahara, in fact.

As for the instrumentation... whew. There's certainly a lot going on, with everything from afrobeat and calypso rhythm to squeeze boxes and ukeleles manages to make itself heard at some point, but this mad energy works well for the band, and adds a multi-faceted feel to the record.

There are a coupld of droops, 'Breakdown' for instance is a NICE track, but that's just it. Nice. Stand-out high points? 'Run For Your Life', 'Every Third Sunday' and 'Long Slow March'. The whole album is giddy and a little schizophrenic (in the best way possible), and winds down with less summery but just as inviting sound. Thanks, it's been fun.
Rating: 8/10