For the first couple of minutes of the sophomore album from Chicago's Maps & Atlases, it sounds as though the twisting guitars and intricate beats of their debut return unchanged, which would be fine. Then, the second minute of the whimsical "Old And Gray" blossoms into something even better and the album soars to unexpected heights. The shifty, come-and-go nature of the band's mind-bending guitar layers and twitching beats are accented with a more deliberate pop sensibility, without sacrificing any of their glistening musical ability or Dave Davison's maniacally melodic vocals.
The nimbly drizzled guitar invading "Winter" leaves you in awe, stuttering through a heavy beat and rumbling bass groove that leaves you wondering how long until Maps & Atlases are a household name. Davison's devilishly charming wail has the same unshakable pull as Jim James on tracks like the infectiously winding "Fever". The jittery African inspired beats of slippery riffed "Be Three Years Old", with Davison's tantrum-esque vocals thrashing about, and beat-driven march of "Silver Self" remain anything but ordinary, but the clean driven thrust of riffs and thick drums on "Vampires" sounds like a radio-ready hit in waiting. In hindsight, it seems Maps & Atlases' debut was simply a warning shot that left you largely unprepared for how damn great they are.
Seek - "Fever", "Winter", "Vampires"
For fans of - early Kings Of Leon
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