Gorilla Manor

After hearing Local Natives play Los Angeles several times, I couldn't wait for Frenchkiss Records to release its USA version of Gorilla Manor next February, so I bought Infectious Records' EU version that dropped last month. (How ironic they've blown up huge in Europe and are still relatively unknown in the States!)

I have to thank a Brit called "The Wolf" for writing the following review of Gorilla Manor and Local Natives; The Wolf said it better than I could:

"Glorious Gorillas in Our Midst

Abso-blinkin-lutely loving this every-which-way. You're going to love it too. Promise.

As incandescent a bunch of songs as I've heard this year and there are a whole healthy dozen of them to be getting on with.

Local Natives hail from Silverlake, California, U.S.A.

They are Taylor Rice (guitar/vocals), Kelcey Ayer (keyboards/vocals), Ryan Hahn (guitar/vocals), Andy Hamm (bass) and Matt Frazier (drums) and together they make a distinctive and beautiful sound.

This is tricky stuff to pin-down so I'll leave it for someone more gifted in the realms of genre sub-divisions to fix this for us later.

What I found here transcends genre in so many ways.

It is BIG music. Heart-warming music. Enveloping and uplifting music. The melodies are complex and absorbing; the singing fresh and vividly alive. These young gentlemen are creating sounds of true substance!

You could plunge in anywhere really and be lifted up by the pure energy and enthusiasm of their committed performances.

Let me tell you about a few of these wonderful compositions.

'Camera Talk' manages to combine a viscerally raw rhythm, under-produced and untainted in the best possible way, with an intoxicating melody and delicious vocal harmonies.
The high-flying violin lifts the energy straight through the roof.

The spirit of CSN&Y lives on in 'Cards and Quarters'. Mr. Frazier's drums hold down a strong but simple beat around which the song unfolds in evermore complex layers. The last chiming chord hangs in the air like the aftertaste of a half-remembered dream.

There is a dream-like quality running through much of this album.

'Airplanes' is unquestionably one of the project's finest compositions. Good-humoured and uplifting in equal measure, I found myself completely (and willingly) swept away by the ensemble's prodigious musicality.

'Sun Hands' has so much passion it is at risk of spontaneously combusting and 'World News' is chock-full of a jolly kind of goodness rarely captured by any band in any time you might care to imagine. Joyful, rapturous stuff!

I'll shut up now !

It's good. It's very, very good ! It's the kind of music to make all of our lives just a little bit richer and more bearable.

(Oh Heck! Sorry I just can't help it.....'Shape Shifter' made just about every hair on my body - from nose to tail - stand to attention!)

I stumbled upon this truly inspiring little band entirely by accident.

Trust me on this one - it's glorious stuff !"

This album is right up there in terms of best debuts in recent years. It's a mixture of Fleet Foxes, Port O'Brien, and The Format all rolled into one. The vocal harmonies and the melodies are fantastic. The lyrics are creative and not cliched or trite like so many others. I'm not gonna write a full blown review but I felt Local Natives needed more love. I'd recommend this album to anyone who likes good music.

I'll admit, I'm an amateur. I've never written a review. I just wanted the opportunity to recommend this cd to anyone interested in good music. Very easy to listen to, (but certainly not "easy listening" music). Nice layers and textures both musically and vocally. Not usually a fan of covers but do take exception with the fantastic "Warning Sign"/Talking Heads cover. Hope to catch these guys on tour sometime in the near future. I have listened to this cd repeatedly over the past couple of weeks and it just keeps getting better.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 36 reviews  4.6 out of 5 stars