Yeasayer - Odd Blood (2010)

Their debut was widely acclaimed for combining world music influences with standard indie rock tricks. It was an artistically interesting blend, but not one I found especially fun to listen to. The songs seemed to lack a certain kind of spark; there was melody, interesting instrumentation, pleasant ambiance, but I think what harmed that album was a lack of energy. That may not have been a very fair assessment since they aren’t really trying to be an energetic band, but I was turned off of them. Odd Blood is the first noteworthy album to leak this year, and I was fairly excited to hear it. Right off the bat, one vast difference is that they have more fully embraced electronics for this album. Synthesizers dominate the album, while they merely colored their debut, robbing it of most of that wordly feel. They aren’t a completely different band, the vocal style is actually mostly unchanged, but the backing music makes it come off completely different. Songs like “Ambling Alp” (the first single) and “Madder Red” are very radio-friendly, more so than anything on their debut. This can be attributed to the vocal style. For every lively song, there is an obnoxious one, however. “O.N.E.” features one of the lamer choruses I’ve heard in a while, during which the singer sounds a bit arrogant. Yeasayer’s new approach is a mixed bag. A plus is that they’ve replaced much of the more boring parts of their debut with something more lively, and overall, they sound a bit more enthusiastic about music. A negative is that they haven’t necessarily become a more compelling band. Close listens reveal that they’ve simply taken the formula from their debut and added layers of synths and are singing with a bit more zeal. That’s unfair because their debut was anything but formulaic, but it is hard to hear Odd Blood as a cohesive work, just sort of a reimagining of the things that didn’t impress me on All Hour Cymbals. My assessment is biased since I was not floored by their debut. I think fans of All Hour Cymbals will probably like Odd Blood as long as they aren’t put off by the wailing synthesizers. The band has not really changed much, other than this one surface quality, and your opinions of that will likely influence how you receive this album. As for me, this is a step in the right direction, but I don’t love it.