Although they hail
from Brooklyn, these folks have been listening to some serious
Pulp. Rewild is like a modernized, slickened-up rendition
of His N' Hers, with vocals strangely akin to Jarvis
Cocker's, and a melodic urgency that takes you right back to
mid-90s Sheffield.
But this is a more
contemporary sound. An abridged Pulp, and an Americanized Pulp. The
stellar - even interstellar - production grips you by the shirt
collar the moment the record lifts off, whisking you into a world
rife with serious reverb and thick, dense composition. Consider dire
"Dead Light," a multilayered affair that sounds like the soundtrack
to a drug-fuelled montage through neon Las Vegas - even a weak
bridge doesn't interrupt the song's impressive energy. Then there's
the pulverizing one-two punch of freakishly infectious "Bayonets"
and glimmering "Invisible Palace," and the positively cosmic
"Headdress," which may be the album's most memorable single.
There's no denying
this is an engaging - hell, enrapturing album, with plenty a hook to
catch onto, and more than a little atmosphere to get lost in. The
band wisely keeps things interesting by injecting some well-needed
variety into the latter half of the record, in the tribal wyrdness
of "The Narwhal" and the 80s synth-pop of "Old Tricks in Hell." By
the time the epic machismo of closer "Pump Yr Brakes" rolls around,
you'll be thoroughly spent - in a good way. With Pulp-esque verve
and melody, and spacious production straight from the book of U2,
Amazing Baby are, like their titular spectacle, well worth a
look.
