Michelle Shiers on July 23rd, 2014

0

NYC quartet Hooray For Earth are due to release their sophomore album “Racy” on July 29 via Dovecote Records. Lucky for us, we have had an early listen to the album co-produced by singer/songwriter Noel Heroux and Chris Coady (TV On The Radio, Future Islands, Blonde Redhead). Along with Chris Principe on bass, Joseph Ciampini on drums, and Jessica Zambri on keys and vox, Hooray For Earth have proved themselves to be hardworking architects of space – creating celestial indie-pop that still manages to stay within reach. Opening with a minimalistic yet anthemic track of scuzzy-guitar and crashing percussion, “Racy” is a sophisticated collection of nine synth-heavy pop gems, with Heroux’s clear falsetto cloaked in reverb. Lyrically, Heroux is less of a storyteller and more of a space-shifter, moving in and out of musical categories but always wearing his ’80 influences on his sleeve. “Somewhere Else” is a perfect summer-festival anthem placing Hooray For Earth somewhere between MGMT, Grizzly Bear and Passion Pit. Like shining teenage best-time-of-our-life-ness, Hooray For Earth write songs that somehow invoke nostalgia for the first time we heard them – even if we only just heard them for the first time. Their detuned synth stabs sound like they are playing on old cassette tapes, thus reinforcing the trend of finding retro ways of producing futuristic tunes.

||| Live: Hooray For Earth plays July 30 at the Echo.

Photo by Eric White