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| Apples in Stereo, The - New Magnetic Wonder | The Apples in Stereo fans shiver anxiously with anticipation of the group’s fast approaching sixth proper LP, New Magnetic Wonder. The band now exists completely devoid of its original lineup other than front man Robert Schneider. His wife and the band’s drummer, Hilarie Sidney, divorced him and left the group. And of course four years passed in between 2002’s Velocity of Sound, Apples’ last release, and the recording of their latest efforts. In short, enthusiasts hope that through immeasurable change and evolution the crew maintained their musical relevance.
Listeners soon see that they not only accomplish said feat, but even stride nimbly by their past works. Schneider bestows advice both reassuring and instantly useful upon listeners, as an electronic voice passively demands those within earshot to “turn up the stereo.” And so begin “Can You Feel It?” and its corresponding album, an instantly adorable individual piece and a marvelous CD respectively. The track brings all of the pop-rock charm of its obvious influences, most notably the Beatles and the Beach Boys, with its fuzzy guitars, upbeat but not excitable pace, and enthusiastic chanting choruses. Upon departure from the embraceable opener, the band hits listeners with an equally enjoyable tune. “Skyway” immediately showcases more distinct churning strings, which yield a more deliberate tempo than that of the introduction.
The rest of the album proceeds in much the same fashion, with an expansive assortment of instruments and techniques employed to add to the impressive uniqueness of the disc. From traditional handclaps and whistling to less conventional backwards poetry, the combination of such an array of non-instrumental additions elevates this disc to an exceedingly uncommon status. The album truly explores uncharted waters; whereas many artists enlist the services of the various tools Schneider and his companions experiment with, few fuse them together like the Apples in Stereo. This livens New Magnetic Wonder with a breath of fresh air blown from an increasingly trite music world.
Lyrically Schneider takes an invigoratingly optimistic outlook. On “Energy” he wails “the world is made of energy and there’s a light inside of you and a light inside of me” before assuring us that “it’s gonna be alright.” Although at times his cheery disposition leaves a slightly corny, cheesy aftertaste, it beautifully complements the equivalently dreamy pop sound of his band mates. Essentially even the most mawkish of lines meshes with the animatedly gay bounce of its backing to seem sincere and moving rather than clichéd and tired.
Musically, very little holds back the surging wave of musical brilliance the Apples in Stereo blast at its listeners. The brief interludes scattered about the disc serve as brief relapses from the effervescent tracks that buoy the spirits of fans throughout the record. Such breaks neither offer a significant amount in the way of progress nor hinder the CD’s momentum; they simply offer calm intermediate sessions. Similar and marginally repetitive tracks provide the most noticeable clog in this otherwise well-oiled musical machine. Infrequently the idealistically bright pop ditties run together, one failing to effectively distinguish itself from another. Two tracks focused on Hilarie’s vocals, “Sunndal Song” and “Sunday Sounds,” though every bit as marvelously fun as the other tunes on the album, never separate because of her precise and impressive yet slightly bland singing. Inevitably over the course of two discs and twenty-four songs some pieces begin to play indistinguishably simply due to an overabundance of tunes.
Lots of things changed since the Apples in Stereo put out their last legitimate release. The band itself underwent various deletions and additions, obviously leading to an amalgamation of an assortment of new tastes. Society as a whole swayed dramatically as well, as the general public began to focus their aural energies more on the shallow rants of sexually charged pop divas auto tuning their efforts and monetarily driven and drug crazed hip-hop artists utilizing regurgitated thumping bass to propel their jams. Clean, inventive quiet anthems no longer interest the vast majority of listeners. But for those who still enjoy innocent rock, “you’ve gotta get back to that place you can be free in,” and that means spinning the Apples in Stereo’s New Magnetic Wonder, thus far the most lighthearted, liberating release of 2007. |
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Displaying posts 1 - 10 of 10. |
04:34 PM on 02/04/07 | Elijah Wood is releasing this. Kind of weird.
All i've heard off of it is Energy and i didn't think it was anything special. | | |
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04:57 PM on 02/04/07 | Tell my mother not to worry. I'll be picking this up. Nice review. | | |
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09:25 AM on 02/05/07 | Hilarie Sidney did perform on the album though, oddly enough. | | |
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04:33 PM on 02/05/07 | Originally Posted by dbarker02 Hilarie Sidney did perform on the album though, oddly enough. |
Yea. It surprises me that she was still in the band after the divorce. That's cool though. | | |
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08:17 PM on 02/05/07 | his name is steeeeeephen, steeeeephen.... | | |
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04:12 PM on 02/06/07 | The stillness is the move | | |
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