Uninhabitable Mansions is sure to add a fresh sound to your playlist. Don’t let the weird name dissuade you, their music is quality. This indie-rock band is made up of members from two recently split bands: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Au Revoir Simone. With a musical style similar to today’s popular bands such as Grizzly Bear, M83, and Arcade Fire they should have no problem taking off. Their first album Nature is a Taker, released October 30, definitely needs to be added to your iPod.
One half art-collective and one half band, this Brooklyn based group is sure to grab attention. Having roots in one of the most popular indie rock band in recent years, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, gives this group credibility most new bands could only dream of. Although CYHSY has only been broken up for less than a year, their musical style seems to be a little outdated in the ever changing Brooklyn indie music scene. Uninhabitable Mansions definitely brings them up to date. The new trend in the indie scene is to have have both a male and a female singer. This style can be seen in the huge success of the British band The XX, and the increase in popularity of folk-singer M.Ward who has Zooey Deschanel, a famous actress who costarred in Yes Man and 500 Days of Summer, sing along with him on many songs. From Au Revoir Simone, an all girl indie pop/electronic group from Brooklyn, Uninhabitable Mansions borrowed Annie Hart to be the keyboardist and vocals.
The first track is probably my favorite in the album. The “Speed is Deceiving” has an upbeat happy feel to it. The intro to this song seems to sum up the entire CD: fun-loving and innocent. The guitarist Robbie Guertin carries over the same melodic and trance-like guitar style from CYHSY. “Big Kick” does not show Uninhabitable Mansions talent. The vocals are muffled out, it’s hectic, and it is just plain annoying. The instrumental sProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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e however is not too bad. Besides hectic guitar and weird electronics the song is pretty good. Another aspect of CYHSY can be seen in “Do You Have A Strategy”. Uninhabitable Mansion’s singer definitely borrows Alec Ounswerth’s (the lead singer for CYHSY) singing style, very noticeable voice cracks and radical pitch changes. The beginning of the song is loud but it shows Uninhabitable Mansion’s cheerful mood. “Midnight Topography” starts off quiet and soft but then kicks in an escalating mix of acoustic and electric guitars. This song shows Uninhabitable Mansion’s peaceful and down-to-earth side. This song iProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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’t happy or trance inducing unlike previous songs; its actually a little depressing. The sixth song on Nature is a Taker, “The Brain Is a Slow Wave”, relaxes you with a slow trance like synth track and Annie Hart, the singer from Au Revoir Simone, taking vocals. Towards the end of the song, the beat gets more and more intense, and Robbie’s guitar cuts in the make the ending loud and impacting. “Static State”, the seventh song, instantly mellows and relaxes you. The looping, trance-like beat and the dream like synth makes you just want to fall asleep. The eighth track, “This Drift,” sounds like it was recorded in a garage. The vocals are definitely not their best; however, they do get better at the end. Despite the iffy vocals, this song does show the tremendous skill of the guitarist and keyboardist more than any other song. “Ex-Explorers” gives off an extremely mellow feeling like “Static State,” but it picks up about three quarters of the way through. Compared to “Static State,” this song’s vocals are much better. This song features the duet between the male and female singers, and the vocals are quite catchy. My second favorite song on this album is definitely “We Already Know”. This song sounds extremely similar to the CYHSY song “In This Home on Ice,” it has very repetitive and looping drums and guitars while the vocals are mumbled in a way. Listening to this song will zone you out of the world and induce a dreamlike state of mind.
If you like indie music and want some fresh tunes to add to your stale collection, you will not be disappointed with Uninhabitable Mansions. This album gets the Mike Demarais Seal of Approval, and a 9/10. To listen to a few select songs for free visit their website at http://uninhabitablemansions.com.
