KUPS STAFF: RECORD REVIEW FRIDAYS >>>
Editor’s Note: As has become tradition, every Friday the fresh-faced kids over at KUPS 90.1FM â€" the awesome UPS student run radio station â€" will be stepping away from the microphone and offering up a well-crafted review of a recent record release. Today marks the first such review, and they’ll continue throughout the school year.
Reviewed by Kayla Morrison, Alternative Music Director KUPS 90.1 FM Tacoma
Le Loup’s 2007 album The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly (yes, that really is the title) was one of the most criminally underappreciated albums of 2007. Now Le Loup is back with Family, out this past Tuesday on Hardly Art, and they have crafted another gem.
Incorporating traditional melodies, multi-part harmonies, a little bit of banjo, and a lot of awesomeness, Sam Simkoff and friends have created the perfect sophomore album: different enough to not be redundant but not so different as to disgust superfans such as myself.
The album opens with the soft drum and banjo fanfare of “Saddle Mountain†and seamlessly flows through several brilliant but unassuming songs before reaching its climax in “Neahkahnie†â€" a joyful, raucous banjo, guitar, and dusty church basement piano number.
Don’t let Family suffer the fate of its younger brother; this album definitely deserves your love and attention.