Local Natives : 'Gorilla Manor'
Released: 2nd November 2009
Label: Infectious Records
I may have - after an over-exciting few hundred words - signed off with something along the lines of “You might never need to buy another album again” on these fair pages recently while reviewing Alberta Cross' Broken Side Of Time. I do actually stand by that, just only as long as you get Gorilla Manor, Local Natives' debut beforehand.
The five-piece have just finished touring these shores as part of the NME Radar tour, stealing shows as they went with the most beautiful folky americana that you will come across. Ever since they played a prolific amount of SXSW shows this record has been eagerly anticipated. And they have certainly not disappointed. Vocally it's perfect with every thick harmony, and every check-shirted composition.
'Airplanes' is the Californians at their peak, it's absurdly good - the sort of song obsessions are made out of. Simply put together, a pounding piano and bass drum allow percussionist and singer Kelcey Ayer to open up about his grandfather as the rest builds around him. Stabbing strings and rumbling fills top it off to make it impossibly beautiful.
The whole record comes together perfectly, every song merits its place on Gorilla Manor. They've put everything into it and it shows, it is soaked with passion and - as you can tell - it is easy to get carried away with it all. But it really is that good. 'Shapeshifter' is punchily rapturous, 'Sun Hands' brilliantly rickety, 'Who Knows Who Cares' beguiling. The hairs on the back of your neck stand high throughout Gorilla Manor, possibly highest in closer 'Sticky Thread's' beautiful chorus.
To make things even better and to prove just how much better our taste in bands is over here in Blighty, Local Natives aren't even signed in the US yet. Mind boggling. Their loss is well and truly our gain, so make the most of it.
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