Album: Our House on the Hill
Artist: The Babies
Label: Woodsist
Release: Nov. 13
Grade: A
The Babies have grown out of their infancy and are still making beautiful music.
Call them hipsters, call them lo-fi, call them what you want, but if the band's self-titled debut album was how they learned to crawl, they have since learned to run with their fully developed sound and made another unique collection of signature songs.
The Brooklyn-based group formed for fun as a side project between already successful indie rockers Kevin Morby of Woods and guitarist Cassie Ramone of Vivian Girls.
The Babies' sophomore effort, Our House on the Hill, shows the continued merging of artistic visions from two maturing musicians intent on sharing their influences and stories of love, dream chasing and living.
Twangy surf guitars with driving rhythms and tons of layers have become an expected feature in The Babies' music. While that style is still presenton the new album, the band also shows variety in slower paced songs and acoustic arrangements as well.
The band introduced Brian Schleyer, the new bass player on this album, and his playing style seems to fit right in with the band's sound.
The band has displayed an amazing ability to bringemotion to its music with beautiful, though sometimes unexpected, transitions from the major to the minor key. "Alligator," the first track on the album, is an excellent example of this.
"Life is funny, life's a laugh/Life is lovely and it's a drag/and I don't care. You're not a traitor/I'll take the stairs, not the elevator/And one day, I'll see you at the top" sings Morby.
Our House's best moments are when Morby and Ramone share the microphone. Whether they're singing back and forth ("Chase It To The Grave" and "Slow Walkin") or singing together ("Alligator"), they both have unique voices with great contrast.
Ramone's voice is eerilyreminiscent of '60s-pop girl groups. She seems to almost whine her words and can sound monotone at times, but it magically fits with the music. There is a mysteriously addicting quality to the way she sings, especially on "Slow Walkin" and "Baby."
Well worth the purchase, Our House on the Hill should be on everyone's radar for best new music.
Last week, fans were able to stream the album forfree on Spinmagazine's website.
The Babies will perform in Brooklyn at the Knitting Factory on Nov. 13 and are encouraging fans to bring in items to help with the disaster relief following Hurricane Sandy.
Email: arts@ubspectrum.com
