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 (Infectious/Liberator)
Not life-changing, but pleasant enough
Local Natives rose to indie blog prominence (and a record deal) through their performances at last year’s South By South-West music festival; comparisons to Fleet Foxes have been made, although I suspect that’s more to do with the average indie fan’s short attention span than any genuine connection. On Gorilla Manor, their début, the LA quintet write pleasant folk-pop numbers with more than a little hint of Americana: think Crosby, Stills & Nash, Wilco, Midlake, or (okay, if you must) Fleet Foxes. Opener Wide Eyes, with its fuzzed-out bassline, driving tom-drum percussion, and layered vocal harmonies (“soaring” has, alas, entered The Big Book Of Indie Clichés) is indicative of their work, and not a bad song to boot; more memorable is its immediate successor, Airplanes, with a driving 4/4 kickdrum beat and a plaintive chorus lyric (simply “I want you back”). Unfortunately they can get a bit histrionic at times: the answer to the question posed in Who Knows, Who Cares is, if the epic vocal-and-strings breakdown at the end is anything to go by, that they do. Gorilla Manor’s biggest flaw is that it’s a crowded beast of an album: most of the songs aim for the widescreen panoramas that their influences are famous for without the necessary contrast of quieter, smaller pieces (heck, even their cover Talking Heads’ minimalist number Warning Sign is a bit OTT). Regardless, those waiting patiently for new albums by Fleet Foxes, Midlake, or Australia’s own The Middle East should find something to tide them over in Gorilla Manor.
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CHAD PARKHILL
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