Glocca Morra

Glocca Morra don't necessarily adhere to any set of standard principles of indie pop, math rock or folk-punk. However, they seem to notice the positives of each style and its related branches, as The Working Bones, A Health Decline is an ambitious and pretty musically successful full-length that lifts notes from all.

This album largely reminds me of a more distracted and distant version of former Floridamates Look Mexico, between the camaraderie-laden gang vocals and clear noodles of guitar that come up periodically ("Caution Clouds / Sticky Fingers" for one, and "Apocalyptic Showdown" sounds like their old stuff). Or maybe a much more fleshed out and melodic 1994! (new Philliemates). Their singing is more raw and fragile, though, and there are a lot of variedly mixed layers to keep an ear out for.

"Leech Mansion" kinda resembles Bear vs. Shark, only with a shitload of restraint involved -- the moment of dynamism provided just before the two-minute mark doesn't work to its full potential but it definitely gets a listener's foot suddenly tapping and overall notice at bay. And a minute later there's a part where the singer sounds just like Conor Oberst, and consequently the song stumbles onto tense ground somewhere between Bright Eyes and a quieter Desaparecidos (well, if there were any points on that album, anyway).

Much of the album isn't fully compelling at every single turn, but there's a rigid complexity that's simply unrelenting and enough direction shifts that a handful of them are outright interesting (the nearly eight-minute "Starvation Limits / Tokyo Snow" being a great example). A pretty decent debut.

STREAM
Leech Mansion
Fake Teeth
Apocalyptic Showdown