Wonderful design aesthetics open to immediately endearing pop aesthetics, subverted by enough indie-rock and inhumanly layered electricity to champion another Mid West victory. In fact, the sonic diversity of this work is so great, it would be quite amiss to label Lullabies a pop fancy. The sassy hooks on "Glitter-Eyed" transition into the space rock "King of Swing," a song that adds yet another layer (which is actually an incredible occurrence, because the amount of things going on at any given point is staggering, maybe even more stunning the fact that all these layers compliment and drive each other so well.) of classical string. "Transistors On!" comes in sample style, and kicks off an old-school back beat accompanied by gentle guitar, violin, and general key work. Somehow all of this bleeds into an ethereal chorus. "Atari 2600" is a standout track, pushing lo-fi sample composition to invigorating levels.
Self produced, recorded, and engineered by Matthew Custar and Jeremy Ylvisaker, the technical aspects of this CD are also impressive. The mix is part of the composition, so the care taken with it is more than obvious, and the vocal layers blend and dominate when appropriate. Overall, it is exciting to get CDs like this, one that manages to be so accessible and hooky, while retaining strong artistic license and rock credibility. We highly recommend that you check it out.
