The Ladybug Transistor
Argyle Heir
(Merge Records)

The line between being quaint and precious is a fine one indeed, and The Ladybug Transistor know just how to stay on the acceptable side of things. Over the past five years, this arty Brooklyn ensemble has doubled from three to six members, and scope and texture of their gently skipping compositions has expanded as well. The Swedish, in their good taste, love this band, and Argyle Heir should win over many sensitive Stateside souls.

These fourteen tracks pass by like a Sunday walk by a country pond, speaking to the art that can unfold when pop gets along with jazz. A passage of swinging Herb Alpert-styled trumpet threads its way through carbonated haze of "Wooden Bars," a track so suave and springy it’s a wonder it didn’t come from France. Elsewhere, flute and oboe – as well as a gaggle of horns and strings – meet the traditional guitars, keys and drums, and all are tied together with craft and care.

"Fires on the Ocean" dresses up a campfire song in a tuxedo, complete with a middle jig section, and sounds like what would result if you played a Red House Painters LP on 45rpms. Their "Echoes" sounds like the Mamas and the Papas on some really good dope, the girlie vocals of "Nico Norte" turn the song into the soundtrack to an opium-powered, Eastern European circus, and "Fjords of Winter" is an instrumental, charming contemporary waltz. The Ladybug Transistor makes music for both the mind and soul, and Argyle Heir will certainly make both swoon and sway. –Scott D. Lewis

 

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