Odd Blood

US trio Yeasayer are musical magpies, cut from the same colourful cloth as acts like MGMT or Santogold. "Odd Blood" is their sophomore disc, comprising catchy jittery electronic Pop with a myriad of influences.

The woozy "Strange Reunions" has a Middle Eastern feel as does "Madder Red" (with a hummed wordless chorus), while the psychedelic clap-filled ballad "I Remember" is remniscent of "Animal Collective". At 10 tracks, no two songs are alike. Their debut CD was beautifully fractured psychedelic Folk/Pop, and they retain their strong sense of melody despite the change in style.

Other standouts are the Radiohead-style "The Children" (with eerie vocodered vocals and clanking beats), the tribal-sounding "O.N.E.", the progressively trancey "Love Me Girl" (my favourite), the bouncy "Rome" with stabbing syths & the experimental ballad "Grizelda".

Otherworldly and highly infectious!

All Hour Cymbals, Yeasayer's first album was a shambling, faded psychedelic romp through post-apocalyptic Africa and Asia. In contrast to that, this sophomore effort, Odd Blood, is a strange marriage of Animal Collective, Radiohead, The Knife, and Phoenix's dancy electro pop. Higher production values come with a complete 180 in terms of musical design, but I'll be damned if it isn't just as fun.

I admit, I enjoyed the old Yeasayer more in terms of genre, but slap me upside the head if I didn't say this wasn't one of the better records I've heard in a while. This new music's just as well written and certainly more mature, and the cheerier atmosphere makes it more approachable. It's a significant movement for the band and it makes me all the more excited for these talented musicians. At least no one can say Yeasayer took the easy way out.

Folks:

This is it! This is the new direction of music. Brooklyn, NY is the hotbed of music these days and Yeasayer is leading the pack in my opinion. The Brooklyn sound fuses an electronic sound that harks back to the 80s with a modern twist of great songwriting. You can easily tell that all the members in Yeasayer are highly skilled musicians and they know how to use their skills in effective songwriting techniques. Most importantly, the songs are catchy and don't require many listens before they creep into your brain and settle in. What a great band. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

I was a late comer (last summer) to "All Hour Cymbals" but I love that album and was really looking forward to this one. I have been desperately trying to like it since Tuesday and I have to be honest: this is nothing like the previous album and a huge disappointment. There are some catchy songs, but I cannot name one that comes close to having the staying power of nearly every song from the previous album. Worse still, I find about half the album just bad. I have no doubt it will appeal to a broader audience as much of it is probably pretty danceable and hummable, but it does not capture the subtle almost Sung Tongish grace of much of previous album. While "Cymbals" was reserved, subtle, catchy and beautiful, this is up front, in your face and sounds like it was produced for Top 40 radio play (I say that more in feeling rather than as a general judgment of the bands purpose).

I know musicians progress and often that progression leaves us yearning for the old while we learn to appreciate the nuances of the new, but in this case Yeasayer has progressed in a direction that I just cant get into.

Yeasayer released a very much buzzed-debut album "All Hour Cymbals" in the Fall of 2007, and toured relentlessly. Now finally comes the highly-anticipated second album from the Brooklyn-based band.

"Odd Blood" (10 tracks; 40 min.) starts off with a slightly tentative "The Children", although you can immediately sense that the band is diverting/evolving from its debut album with more immediately accessible sounds. That comes forth in the next tracks, the danceable "Ambling Amp" and the even better "Madder Red". The first half of the album concludes with "O.N.E", another irresitable song. The first half of the album is far more 'mainstream' than anything on their debut album. The songs comes fast and furious, unleashing a soundscape not heard on the debut album, and sounding so much more confidant too. The second half contains several more highlights, including the urgent "Love Me Girl", the quirky "Rome", and the trippy "Mondegreen". But truth be told, there are really no 'weak' tracks on here, and at 40 min. the album clips by in no time, and you find yourself playing this again and again.

In all, this is a fantastic album, sure to make my 'best of' list at the end of the year. The growth from this band since its debut album is just amazing. I haven't seen these guys in concert yet, but will get an opportunity to do so when they play Coachella in a couple of months, and how I am looking forward to that. Finally, if you wonder where you can hear these guys, check out WOXY (BAM! The Future of Rock and Roll), the internet-only station that plays the best indie-music in the country, period. Meanwhile, "Odd Blood" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

This band, Yeasayer, have been traveling around the world touring with other great acts since their debut album back in 2007. I liked their first album pretty well, but this album is better, and surpasses the sometimes "Sophomore Slump" that some 2nd albums of artists and bands get.. I didn't know what to expect, but I was surprised. The lead singer's vocals (on varied moments on some tracks) sometimes reminds me of either Lindsay Buckingham or Godley & Creme. As far as the experimental side of the instrumentation, they have a slight element of Hot Chip.

Each song/track on this LP is quite different from the other. I would give this album 4.5 stars to be technical, but only full stars can be appointed. I recommend this album to any Psychedelic Rock/Pop fans, and with a twist of experimental Progressive Rock feel to it.

Side Note: Ironically titled 'Odd Blood' - The cover art as well is odd, but interesting to say the least.

Ending Note: Support this unique, and evolving Progressive-Psychedelic Rock band by purchasing this LP/CD.

Although this is a pretty big turn-about for Yeasayer, they manage to pull off the stylistic shift with aplomb. Going from Celtic/African/Gospel to an amalgam of 80's synthesizers and vocals that hark back to Queen is not easy. However, this thoughtful trio has managed to pull off an album that is charming, experimental, and on the whole a lot of fun.
ONE and Mondegreen are funky exercises in different stereotypical song tropes, but they make them their own.

And Ambling Alp is just plain old badass. Buy the album, you won't regret it.

I want to start of by saying that if this review was based on the two singles from Odd Blood, Ambling Alp and O.N.E. it would be a 5 star + review. The first time I heard Ambling Alp (think it was on WOXY) a smile formed on my face and I went on a mission to find that Mp3. I then heard their next single, entitled O.N.E. - another funky track that is sure to elicit a smile. The thought and detail that went into producing these songs is most definitely apparent when you throw on a pair of good headphones and just sit in a quiet room and listen. Slight nuances that are not normally heard when blasting down the highway come out and really show what Yeasayer is all about.

So now that I've rambled on about why I think the two singles are so great, let's get into the rest of the album.

When I first popped the disc into my CD player I was instantly let down. Yes, "Children" could be considered a relatively effective intro track with its slowed down tempo and notions of "building up" for what is to come, but overall I wasn't really impressed. The beat and looped piano worked well, but it could have done without the distorted audio. "The Children" leads into "Ambling Alp", one of the catchiest songs of 2010 as of this writing. If by the end of this track you do not have the lyric "Stick up for yourself son" repeating in your head, this album is probably not for you. "Madder Red" is an epic sounding "indie rock ballad" with a solid hook and great vocals. It reminds me of their first album, All Hour Cymbals. "I Remember", and "O.N.E." are two more that are worth talking about.

The rest of the album is good, but nothing stands out in my mind as being something I want to hear repeatedly. Highlight tracks on the album include:

Ambling Alp
Madder Red
I Remember
O.N.E.
Rome

Odd Blood is the album that will help project Yeasayer more into the mainstream. While this album may be just a hair shy of commercial radio play, this is no indicator of success (by any means!). For those who have not heard their first album, it is definitely worth a listen - at a minimum, listen to the single "Sunrise."

As a side note, there is a "making of" studio tour video posted at Pitchfork, and if you are into the band go watch it, very cool.

I noticed that a lot of reviews of the new album "Odd Blood" that are negative think that Yeasayer sounds like a completely different band here. They're not entirely wrong, but I see a band's ability to make a different sound in a different album a strength. The art-rock group's first album, All Hour Symbols, focused heavily on percussion and polyrhythms of ethnic music. Odd Blood, on the other hand, is very heavy on vocal lines, hooks, and melodies. In addition, they seem to be going into a direction of music that will play well in a large arena. It seems to me they don't just want to be a cool band anymore- they want to make it big. Of course if they go too mainstream, they will lose their artsy/indie base. But as it is, Odd Blood is an excellent listen for fans of art-rock, indie rock, or anyone looking for something good and different to listen to.

Odd blood first of all is a grower, at first hearing it "illegally" i thought, not strong and familiar but after purchasing it and giving it a couple listens i found it different and like nothing else, sure it has a poppy feel to it but its weird pop in my case, its unique, and in terms of comparing it to All Hour Cymbals..i think you can't its on a whole nother level and is beautiful music worth a buy! Favorite tracks are "Mondegreen" and "Ambling Alp"