Odd Blood

Three months ago Odd Blood, the second effort from Brooklyn-based three-piece Yeasayer, leaked online. While the band and record company were beset with worry (the group even remarked on Twitter, “Presents are always spoiled for those who open them before they are supposed to”), they needn’t have bothered, because in the long run it will actually do the band some good. You see, the songs on Odd Blood are so packed with jumbled up rhythms, sounds and textures, you can’t blame those who decided they wanted an early start.
But at its heart, this is a pop album through and through. The ’80s beats are inescapable and the slightly effeminate vocal delivery is a definite hark back to that gender bending era (‘Love Me Girl,’ ‘Ambling Alp’). And yet, it’s also a very modern-sounding record. Not quite as gonzoid/visionary as Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, Odd Blood inhabits that same anything-goes world. Take the sublime ‘Love Me Girl’ for example. Yeasayer have packed around 15 different songs into one tune, and while it can be initially jarring, it’s an exciting thrill-ride that splices dance, techno and indie together with ease. Odd Blood is the sound of a band jamming a square peg into a round hole. At times it isn’t as coherent as it could be, but it sure is a lot of fun.