Antlers // Familiars
I should love this but it just left me frustrated.
Released 16th June 2014
Antlers // Familiars Transgressive/Bella Union
There is so much about "Familiars" that I should love, taking as it does a pinch of Talk Talk, a soupcon of Sigur Ros, a dash of British Sea Power and a smidgen of Tindersticks. Unfortunately, the result is less than the sum of its parts. On this, their fourth album, Brooklyn’s Antlers add a horn section to their indie rock template. The result is lush and orchestral but generally bland. At its best on the likes of "Doppelganger" or "Director", this is an almost perfect blend of post-rock and early eighties experimental pop. Michael Lerner's drumming is gentle and understated but gripping. Peter Silberman croons like Jonsi or Mark Hollis and Darbi Cicci's multi-instrumentation is just compelling. The rest is one-paced, one dimensional, little more than background music, at home in a wine bar for the painfully hip, with Silberman's guitar as tasteful but insipid as Clapton in his AOR wilderness years. This is nice, inoffensive, the kinda thing that will appeal to those that buy one album a year. I'll listen again but can’t see it ever becoming a favourite.
Pavlis 5/10
