The Chicago band injects just enough focus and fluidity to make the songs fun, without compromising to the point of becoming another arty, African-inspired Vampire Weekend rip-off.
It’s a collection of tracks that needs proper digestion in order to pick through the intricate layering and amalgam of styles that mix the band’s longstanding math influences with a clear inclination towards African rhythms.
Beware and Be Grateful certainly has plenty of elements…perhaps even too many.
They sound like too much like themselves and too much like the others, and even if you discount the pinpoint instrumentation, it’s depressingly calculated.
What’s missing is any emotional contrast to stop all that cleverness from sounding overwhelming.
Beware and Be Grateful takes away the edge of their debut, creating a tightly focused and traditional record full of hook-riddled pop nuggets
There’s undoubtedly some clever stuff going on under its surface, but when it makes you feel nothing you have to wonder, what’s the point?
#18 | / | Slant |