A Brooklyn five-piece founded by a drummer, a singer/clarinetist, and a singer/guitarist,
Foyer Red
expanded their lineup to included members of such idiosyncratic acts as
kolezanka
and
Hypoluxo
before recording their full-length debut,
Yarn the Hours Away
, with producer
Jonathan Schenke
(
Parquet Courts
,
Liars
). While those credits may give some indication of the offbeat nature of the band, it won't prepare first-timers for the full of force of the group's highly melodic merger of sunny indie pop, angular indie rock, and doses of art, punk, and math rock. A song with the title "Plumbers Unite!" sets the stage with insistent drums, a punky bass groove, squealing melodic guitar lines, and lead singers who both harmonize and compete for attention. As the track list unfolds,
Elana Riordan
(the clarinetist) proves to be an essential component of their sound, delivering wide-ranging melodies with a crisp, smiling vocal tone that contrasts guitarist
Mitch Myers
'
Fred Schneider
-like patter. Other references to turn-of-the-'80s new wave and post-punk abound, although
's distinctive formula lands far away from pastiche, with a song like the polyrhythmic "Oh, David" approximating a power-trio vocal harmony group, and the frequent starts, stops, and direction changes of "Blue Jazz" achieving something much closer to
Bitte Orca
-era
Dirty Projectors
than to
Devo
or
the B-52s
. On that point,
might have risked circuitry overwhelm here if not for a certain consistent spaciousness and more restrained, midtempo entries like the tuneful "Gorgeous" and closing track "Toy Wagon." The latter's relatively ambling rhythms favor gentle head-bobbing over the more-prevalent pogo dancing on board -- even after the tempo picks up precipitously at the midway point. In the end, the album's more demanding qualities go down easy thanks to solid songs and an overriding sense of good fun. ~ Marcy Donelson