—Got Blinded
TOP ALBUMS OF 2011
And so, we’ve reached the end of the year and it’s time for the annual roundup of the year’s albums. This year’s total number came out to 46, for some reason. We’ll be counting down the albums to number one this whole month.
20. Cape Dory - Tennis
I understand the immediate hatred that people might feel for a band like Tennis. It’s a husband and wife duo (becoming much more popular in the indie rock scene), who met studying philosophy and then went on to sail in a boat for a really long time. Now they maybe poppy, surf-glam-rock-esque music, that essentially falls under the umbrella of the Beach Boys and every other band that’s spent a little too much time on the waves. And there is that side of the band that is unappealing, pretty much because the songs can melt together when you look at it that way. And by the same token, there isn’t much to an album like Cape Dory apart from the simplistic songs, which essentially all follow the same beat of love, fun, and more love. And I guess that could be seen as a bad thing, because the music isn’t very challenging or exciting. But it sure as hell is catchy and finds itself on repeat, maybe because it is a husband and wife having a lot of fun together, having sailed the world and decided that, yes, this is the kind of thing they want to do. And in addition to all that, the music isn’t really something that would find itself in the background, it finds itself as an ode to beauty in the end, which is probably most prevalent on “Waterbirds.”
“Waterbirds” is, without a doubt, the best track on the album, and it’s the driving force of the whole thing. The original single of “Marathon” and “Baltimore” draw you in, but it’s the collapse of “Waterbirds” that really appeals to us. It’s a dream about the past and the future, and how to relate the two together. And as it reaches its climax, we as an audience realize how gifted as musicians the group is, as the guitars louden and everything seems to culminate in one big finish. It’s really a terrific moment for the album and the year’s music, and once you realize the power behind all of that, it all make sense. “Did we ever really meet? This is all I really need,” lead singer Alaina Moore yells in her harmonic voice before the guitars overtake her and the whole thing turns into a solid jam. It feels more fun and grateful than anything else on the album - a bit like Real Estate’s “All The Same,” which ends in the same weary and amazing way. And after you get the sense of how much Tennis has to offer, the rest of the album comes easy, with songs like “Seafarer” that feels like it simply writes itself at the end of the day. There’s an obvious comparison here to bands like Cults, that find themselves in the indie pop scene with a female lead singer, but the supreme difference here is that Cults seems like it has to prove everything, while Tennis has to prove nothing. Obviously the comparison is one that shouldn’t be made, but Tennis and Cape Dory seems so effortless while at the same time full of emotion and longing. And maybe it’s the time spent away from society that makes it like this, or maybe it’s just that Cape Dory is exactly what comes from two people who have a pretty good idea of what they want.
19. Underneath The Pine - Toro Y Moi
As far as disappointments go for this year’s albums, Underneath The Pine might top the list. Coming off of the massively good Causers of This, all Chazwick Bundick really had to do was head back to laptop. His sample heavy songs, which very essentially the basis for all things chillwave (whether you consider Neon Indian or Washed Out as that pivotal band, the fact remains that Bundick is closest to the definition), were incredibly well-written while also maintaining a feel of realism behind them, especially on songs like “Talamak” and “Blessa” (Ex: “When can we get together again? Nevermind, I lost you”). And with that as the starting block for Toro Y Moi, disregarding releases like Body Angles, things seems pretty easy for the guy. Underneath The Pine takes this in a completely opposite direction, and on first listen it’s incredibly upsetting. It’s not that the music isn’t good, but it feels a lot more like a mixtape homage to rock-based fuck of the eighties than Bundick’s unique style. The opening “New Beat” feels like more a joke than anything else, and the other songs follow suit. But after several listens, because you believe in Bundick, things make so much more sense and you begin to realize that maybe in the end, Underneath The Pine is much closer to what we want than Causers of This. That album served its purpose, and was met with the acclaim it deserved, but it was an album for the electronic chillwave age. Bundick had to move on, as did people like Ernest Greene, and that’s why Underneath The Pine is a success. Songs like “Go With You” that at first feel like they don’t make sense slowly fall closer to a meaningful song that tracks on Causers ever could. Sure, there’s a centralized emotional response to “Blessa” and “Minors,” but Pine is the more mature version of that, and it’s all we could really ask for.
“Still Sound” is a bad example of this, and it was probably a bad choice for a single, despite it being a very good song. The overlapping of Bundick’s vocals, matched by the growing bass in the background, are where we want them to be, but it’s a such a sharp contrast from what we know. Better is probably “Got Blinded,” which feels more like the love songs we’re used to from Bundick. He’s not the lovelorn guy singing about homes and being alone, but he’s singing about how those things manifest in the real world. “Got blinded in two places,” he sings, “but found out which one mattered.” And in the world of Bundick, it’s a matter of finding out which of the two styles make sense, and Underneath The Pine is the next logical step. Obviously, as the album reaches its conclusion, things make more sense, even the Garageband-esque elements of “Good Hold,” which leads into the albums masterpiece track, “Elise,” which I would call the best song of 2011. “Elise” is, without a doubt, Bundick’s best track, for it combines that new style with a darker element, one that can let it play on repeat over and over. It draws comparison for me to songs like Women’s “Eyesore,” which felt like the moment when the whole group made sense. And in the end, “Elise” is a perfect blend of all things in Toro Y Moi, as Bundick sings, “Carry me, Elise, so I can wait.” Even though it’s not as straightforward as some of Causers tracks, it just feels like one that is the most personal, and it rings so true.
Toro Y Moi is at a turning point, as are many bands these days who found themselves making catchy music last year and wanting something more this year. However, Toro Y Moi was the only one the fully realize the fact that when music demanded one new step, two steps had to be taken. Pine is a realization of that, and a momentous one at that. It’s disappointing and upsetting on first listen, but brilliant on the tenth listen. And perhaps people won’t see that, because we’re not used to this type of Bundick, but in the end, it’s all that we could really want. Underneath The Pine isn’t the electronic past that’s been explored, it’s the future of what music for the computer generation will look like, even as it harkens back to music from year’s previous. And although it’s most apparent on “Elise,” it resonates through the entire album, and that’s what makes Bundick’s twist on his own group such a success.
