Maps & Atlases’ Perch Patchwork has been six years and four EPs in the making, and it shows. While these four Chicagoans were churning out CD after CD of chaotic math rock, they seem to have discovered two things: (1) how to fingerpick like nobody’s business, and (2) that the cow bell is for life, not just for pop records.
Dave Davison’s truly unique, rustic baritone probably would have captivated me whether Maps & Atlases had heard of the cow bell or not. On tribal ballad ‘Solid Ground’ his Illinois drawl is so distinctive, you find yourself suddenly desperate to hear more. It’s a feeling not unlike the first time you heard Caleb Followill’s voice, only, unlike the Kings Of Leon man, Davison is capable of a dozen different types of crooning. His ingenious vocal purring on ‘Will’ falls somewhere between mumbling and meowing and he gets away with little more than humming on the supremely romantic ‘Was’. Elsewhere, ‘The Charm’ is based around a pretty conventional folk melody – a singing style he also nails.
Violent bursts of guitar, intricate rhythms, quirky instrumentals and reeling harmonies form this gorgeous 12-tracker but understandably, if you listen to Perch Patchwork with a cynical heart, it could sound like an ungodly mess. The endlessly quirky ‘Will’ is just made to run over the opening titles of some demented Internet series, while M&A have invented a a new kind of folk salsa on the marvelously busy ‘Pigeon’.
Sadly, these inventive gems are matched with a handful of bog standard folk tunes. But that’s not to take away from the smooth, complex rock Maps & Atlases have just about perfected – never more stunning than on the album’s title track. Pop record or no pop record, Perch Patchwork is wonderfully nerdy and highly emotive and, most importantly of all, it goes down easier than a spoonful of lavender honey.
Key Track: ‘Will’