When Brooklyn-based quartet, Suckers, signed in February with NYC-based indie powerhouse Frenchkiss in February, we knew something likely worth our time was brewing. They joined label-mates The Antlers, The Dodos, and current tour-mates Local Natives, and prepared for the follow up to the Anand Wilder (Yeasayer) and Chris Moore (TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) produced self-titled EP on IAMSOUND last year. In the same keeping of production quality, their debut LP Wild Smile proves a masterfully produced record, containing an epic size while preserving its charm. The fact that Wild Smile is a debut LP is stunning. “Save Your Love for Me” offers a grand introduction to the bubbly bigness of the album, like a jumbo-sized bottle of champagne, promising playfully roaring highs, bittersweet lows, and plenty of party sing-alongs. The breakdown of the song unleashes arena sized drums, a glamorous guitar solo, and an ungodly high falsetto performance that makes you wonder if Queen has been reincarnated in Brooklyn.
The albums first single and what I consider one of the best tracks of the year, “Black Sheep,” blasts an indefensibly infectious chorus, the vocals rupture with incoherence, and the effects give it a trophy-like glimmer. The song builds on a fairly simple progression without many complicated turns. This happens often on Wild Smile, where Suckers start with a pop-oriented arrangement of chords and reinvent the phrasing, effects, timing, or instrumentation throughout the song to keep it feeling fresh as lemons. But I didn’t really notice that until the 5 or 6th listen, after I grew tired stomping my foot through the floorboards in celebration.
In the same respect, variable is probably the best word for the album. Vocally speaking, Quinn Walker oscillates between someone with a serious story to tell and you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me high falsetto. Sometimes he brings to mind the laughable deepness of Fred Schneider of the B52s (don’t tell me you don’t hear it on “Black Sheep”), though more often heard are the cracking calls of Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse; there’s definitely some David Byrne in there as well. Particularly on tracks like “Loose Change,” he receives marvelous vocal backing from the whole band, giving them an Animal Collective togetherness, demanding you chant along with their commune wherever you are.
Likewise swings the pendulum of the vibe of their music, which reaches tear-jerking catharsis on “A Mind I Knew” only to be immediately followed by the blissful happiness of “Roman Candles,” complete with group whistling and the swing of a perfect day in the park. There is a taste of disco on “Black Sheep,” surfy pop on “You Can Keep Me Runnin’ Around” and new wave on a number of tracks. These influences seem to unpredictably circulate on the album.
Wherever the needle lay, prepare Wild Smile for heavy summer rotation.
- matthew hunt
