Best Album of 2013

Say, amigos, it's been a while.  I even forgot how to log in to ye olde GimDang.  Either way, I should've posted this a year ago (even though I just wrote it).  I could make excuses, but I won't.  Stay tuned for the Best Album of 2014, which I plan to get up this week.

“This is the golden age of mankind.” So claims Yellowbirds’ main man, Sam Cohen, on what basically amounts to the title track of his band’s most excellent Songs From The Vanished Frontier.  Though this period hasn’t proven itself to be superlatively outstanding quite yet (indeed, things these days basically stink), Cohen recognizes its indelibility while hinting that the best is yet to come.

The Brooklyn band doesn’t boast much of a history or, for that matter, a track record of success.  Still, what Yellowbirds lack in the way of plays, they make up for in pluck.  Tunes like “Mean Maybe,” with its soft jangle and delicate harmonies, and “Young Men of Promise,” with its fits-and-starts drive and note of ambition, are heartening.  They remind me that things aren’t so bad after all.  Though the band hung it up this year (after only two official releases), Songs was definitely my favorite album of 2013.

It’s nice, it’s mellow, modestly layered with tasteful tones and subtle strings, as if Cohen was drinking the Pet-Sounds punch.  Too, the arrangements are top-notch; the 3-4-minute songs build with a kind of patience, without being too demanding of my attention, like a mundane scene unfolding with no real concern or consequence.  To me, in this case, that’s a good thing.   

Perhaps most appealing was the fact that Songs From the Vanished Frontier grew on me slowly rather than bluntly invading my headspace.  “Julian” for instance is a shuffling little piece, unhurried, spiced with earthy licks and sweetened with Casio candy.  It might be the best song on the album, featuring all of the elements that distinguish Yellowbirds: nimble but bold guitar-work, hazy vocals, electronic accents and Brian-Wilson vibes.  

GimmeDanger respects music for what it is, what it represents and what it aims to be.  In a time when the ways of the world depress me, when pessimism reigns and I find myself shaking my head more often than banging it, Songs lifted me up.  Yes, “I still have desire.”