Think of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros as the U.S. version of
the Arcade Fire. Or the unwashed-hippie version of the Arcade Fire. The
comparisons are inevitable, since the 10-member, L.A.-based crew load
the intricately arranged songs on their debut album with accordions,
trumpets and tons of percussion. The opening “40 Day Dream” even
marches along like one of Win Butler’s tightly packed compositions.
Frontman Alex Ebert has a shakier voice than Butler, occasionally
elevating it to an ear-piercing falsetto. But the Canadian collective
has never been as playfully silly as the Zeros get on “Janglin,” which
includes whistling, a mid-song detour and bubbly
“ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bas” straight out of a swingin’-’60s flick. They
can’t quite sustain this momentum for a full hour, often sagging under
the weight of their overstuffed ambition. But Up From Below‘s freak-folk take on chamber-music puts a summery spin on
some familiar sounds. — Michael Gallucci
This article appears in Jul 15-21, 2009.
