Rewind of the Week

Plants and Animals - Parc Avenue - 2008

I am not really sure why this album did not get more press than it did. I loved the record and thought that it had potential to make a move in 2008. The band has a very big sound with lots of instrumentation combined with Polyphonic Spree style vocals. You will hear trumpets, violins, pianos, guitars, xylophones, whistling, and great percussion.  However, don't get lulled into the choral melodies of songs like "Bye, Bye, Bye" and "Faerie Dance," because just around the corner comes jazzy, raw guitar riffs with a significantly edgier sound (see "Mercy") or less harmonious vocals with a more Black Keys feel like in "Feedback in the Field."  The barrage of instrumentation beats you down as the lyrics pick up, yet the boys of Plants and Animals are kind enough to throw in a slow bridge or a harmonic riff to assist your movement through their song.  Its the musical equivalent of comic relief.  A rest from the brash solos.  Yet some songs create just the opposite scene with a slightly off-key note or a quick storm of percussion done to remind you that all is never what it seems.  Deep within the confines of the beauty there is a loud indwelling. Whatever direction the song takes, the music does the feeling for you, and it is this aspect of Plants and Animals that I have loved the most.  It's like life in that way, seemingly moving in a given direction with surprises always waiting behind the next corner.  Beauty defiled by darkness and darkness redeemed with light.   See the playlist for a sample...