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Arts

 

‘Lightning strikes, but it's not Grand

By Elliot Chan, Contributor

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f the fleeting moments

of summer could be
captured on an album, then
Matt & Kim have done the
job. The indie-pop duo’s
fourth album, Lightning,
came out on October 2—
just in time to help you
cope with the looming
monotonous seasons ahead.

Those familiar with

Matt Johnson and Kim
Schifino’s earlier works will
know their music arouses
the body, forcing you onto
your feet, and percolating
the senses to dance. You
could resist it, but sitting
still through a whole song
is like holding in a sneeze,
something they’ve managed
to accomplish yet again on

 

this album.

In fact, Matt & Kim
bring all the elements
we love back into their
new album. That said,

Regardless of the
party’s familiarity, if you
let loose, then you'll have
a good time. But the songs
are not all fun and games;
most of the lyrics derive
from nostalgia. Their eighth
track, “I Wonder” contains
such savory lines as,
“Maybe (maybe) I’ll learn
all I need to know from
bottles and their broken
glass/ Maybe (maybe)
these streets were my
teachers and | sat in back of
class.” Then there is their
harmonized finale, “Ten
Dollars I Found,” which has
a melancholy overtone as
they begin fading out: “T’ll
buy the next round, with 10
dollars I found.”

Like the memories of
summer, Lightning is short
and sweet, containing 10
songs and, as usual, just
surpassing 30 minutes.

Matt and Kim| Photo courtesy of www. myspace.com/mattandkim

their lack of risk-taking
can’t be ignored. There is
something about Lightning
that just didn’t spark me
the same way their last

album Sidewalks (2010) did.
I feel like I am arriving at
the same party, with all the
same people, and talking
about all the same things.

Embracing the Transcendental Youth

By Sophie Isbister,
Staff Writer

Am
{ © }
Say’

new Mountain Goats
lbum—in this case,

this week’s release of
Transcendental Youth—is
like a bathtub you want to
lay in, turn the water on
to a trickle, and feel the
warmth patiently rise up

full-length album (their
second on Merge records).

I won't be coy; let me make
it perfectly clear that I

love this album. Darnielle
blogged about the making
of this aloum a while back,
holding his newborn baby
in one arm while creating
melodies on the piano with
the other. There’s a resulting
tenderness in the music

on Youth, which belies the
not-so-soft meaning of the
album. Darnielle says in his

Transcendental Youth
proves this statement true
and shows that fatherhood
hasn’t changed Darnielle’s
spare-yet-vivid lyricism one
bit.

As aconcept, the album
works perfectly. Songs like
“Cry for Judas” and “The
Diaz Brothers” have great
standalone potential and a
solid rock sound, whereas
other tracks, like the title
track and “White Cedar,”
have a more contemplative

The album is for people like us: Pacific Northwesterners
caught in cities like Seattle, Vancouver, or Portland.
Cities of gloom, of trees, of perpetual umbrellas,
stunted snow banks, and dreary drizzle.

 

stunted snow banks, and
dreary drizzle. Darnielle

him dig deep and tackle the

very internal and personal

to your neck, engulfing and mellow feel.

blog, about parenting and

you in a body temperature songwriting: The album is for heard the voice of aperson —_ concepts that make us

wholeness from which you “[W]hat am I going to people like us: Pacific like that and wrote an human, and make us yearn

have no desire to escape. do, suddenly start writing Northwesterners caught album for him, for the to foster and grow another
At least that’s how I songs about cute things in cities like Seattle, person struggling to stay human.

feel as I grapple with the instead of songs abouthow Vancouver, or Portland. afloat, but always seeking

challenge of reviewing to wrest cries of triumph Cities of gloom, of trees, hope.

The Mountain Goats’ 14" from the screaming places?” _ of perpetual umbrellas, Maybe parenthood has

made him harder; made