 "Photo: N/A")
Discovery
"LP"
Release Date: 7/7
Record Label: XL
Rating: D+
Congratulations Rostam Batmanglij and Wes Miles!
You two have created an album as boring as your band's name!
I really wish you could get the three years of your life back that were spent putting this little side project together (Batmanglij is in Vampire Weekend and Miles is in Ra Ra Riot).
Just because electronics are the cornerstone of a band's sound does not mean the music has to be so lifeless.
Discovery attempts to put a hook or two throughout the record, but Miles' sleep-inducing vocal cadences immediately shoot them down. The band even tries to put the autotuner to use. Maybe Jay-Z can add a verse to "D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)" to include this mess.
The record is full of skittering automated drums and cold synth work that the band tries to funnel into a Postal Service-esque ready for the masses debut.
The only problem is that the band is missing the pop instincts of someone like Ben Gibbard or Dntel to give these tracks some focus.
This is not the only indie-ready electro pop out there, give the Passion Pit album "Manners" a spin. Those dudes take what Discovery is aiming at and nail it.
Maybe Zach Braff will get a wiff of this new record and throw it in his next film and give this record some legs.
As of right now it will be forgotten by summer's end.
Luke McCormick can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 275
