Feb. 27, 2013 - Issue #906: Tegan and Sara - Pop goes their world
Thumbtacks and Glue
Woodpigeon {recordings_bands_mg} Thumbtacks and Glue {/recordings_bands_mg}
Boompa,
3
"Rock out with your glock out," went the tagline on some Woodpigeon band merch a few years back; the glock in question is a glockenspiel, not the safe-action pistol. It certainly seemed to reflect a sly self-awareness of the band's MO—pretty sincere folk music—while having fun with that very concept. That sense of play that would do well to be a little more present on Thumbtacks and Glue. The band's first release in three years, feels like a softer version than Die Stadt Muzikanten: 10 songs of twee folk, grounded and led by Hamilton's innocuous, hypnotic voice. Melodies envelop you as they gently pass above some clever, shifting instrumentation. It's easy to miss the darkness he's singing about. But that said, Thumbtacks' sequencing gives it a strangely soft first half. Few of the early songs seem to stick; if anything, Thumbtacks' early moments could use a track or two of the hookier pop the band's dabbled in in the past, something like "My Denial in Argyle" to ground the storytelling in a stompable hook and sticky melody. The back end of the album fares better: "Sufferin' Suckatash" finds a lovely electric guitar bridge/solo, and "Robin Song" and "Edinburgh" both swell up into cathartic, rhythmics high. Hamilton's voice will stick with you certainly, but what he's singing about on Thumbtacks and Glue can feels almost too precious to stay.
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