Green To Gold - The Antlers: Review
The Antlers
are the beloved New York indie project of Peter Silberman who released a pair of cult favorite albums in the early 2000's before signing to Frenchkiss Records and releasing their critical darling 2009 album Hospice. Green To Gold is the bands 6th record in 15 years, but their first in 7 years since 2014's Familiars.
Review By Lav:
I enjoy The Antlers music that is no secret. Just a few weeks ago I included their 4th album Burst Apart on my 50 Best Albums of 2011 list and there's a chance Familiars could crack that same list for 2014. While I have admiration for both those albums nothing comes close to how much I enjoy the bands 2009 breakout masterpiece Hospice a tragic, brutally composed and performed tour de force that I consider to be one of the best albums of the 2010's. While the bands minimalist sound has transformed into something dreamier and more align with modern indie folk in the 10 years since Hospice they have never really let me down, delivering solid songwriting on every release. While that continues on Green To Gold even I have to admit that the band is sounding less definitive than ever, despite still sounding good.
The record spawned 4 singles in the lead up to its release and in all honesty I think they're a pretty great bunch of tracks. Wheels Roll Home was the lead single but it might actually be the weakest song of the bunch as a very stripped back ballad with softly sung vocals backed by an acoustic guitar loop and sweet hazy keys. The song is decent and has to work through its underwritten hook and rely on the very charming sound of the vocals. It Is What It Is served as a big improvement and I think I like the song even more now than when I included it on my singles of the year list last year. It's a beautiful catchy little indie pop number with the feintest of verses that lead into a swell of instrumentation on the incredibly memorable hook. Solstice was another big hit earlier this year that revels in its simple sound with fragile wonderful little vocal harmonies at its core and an array of instrumentation that's perfect for the tracks gentle sway. The tapping percussion and dreamy guitars work together really well to craft something sweet on the ears throughout. Finally there was Just One Sec a definite change of pace with very intimate vocals that absolutely dominate the mix compared to the singing on the rest of the album. The song transitions from a stark guitar piece early on into a full array of homespun instrumentation that gives it a bouncy charming feeling.
The album opens and closes with instrumental tracks in the form of Strawflower and Equinox. The latter is a dreamy indie pop opener with glitzy keys and soft guitar plucking, while the latter uses a much more dense array of instrumentation to build one of the records more memorable instrumental backings. The records remaining four tracks are some of its grandest statements and account for most of it's longest compositions but generally speaking I am a bit let down by what they have to offer. Stubborn Man is the best of them as a gentle breezy indie cut that makes much heavier use of piano than some of the other songs here. The keys reverberate deep into space despite being pulled very high up in the mix and having quite substantial sonic impact. The composition is far from immediate but I think the song does enough to keep me mostly engaged. The title track Green To Gold does this similarly fusing indie pop vocals with dream pop guitars for a sweet and very inoffensive sound palette. While that is definitely fine for a few minutes of the track it does reach a point where I want something else, which is slightly supplemented by one of the more interesting sets of lyrics on the record. The songs title refrain is hooky enough to last but 7 minutes still feels like a bit much.
Porchlight is the outright sweetest song of the bunch from the lovesick lyrics to the soft keys that serve as transitional points all over the track. The song really leans into a blissful aesthetic and its mostly effective even though some points can feel sickeningly sweet. Volunteer may be my least favorite track on the record which I think may surprise some people. I love minimalism as much as anyone but this song really puts the records approach to the style to the test with a 6 minute composition that has some definite lulls. With the really long breathy melodies moments that feel like they should be building to something come off as totally stagnant and rather sleep which is a shame because there are moments on the record that I sort of enjoy in isolation.
Green To Gold is pleasant, catchy and generally enjoyable overall but I can't shake this feeling that the band is underachieving. Even with my expectations not necessarily being met there is no denying that the record is a set of simply composed, dreamily executed indie folk and pop ballads that satisfy more often than they don't. After 7 years it is nice hearing anything from the band and I have no room to complain about them continuing to apply their songwriting prowess to new directions. 7/10
Album Cover Review By Tyler Judson:
What attracts me to this cover is the color. The composition is simple and rather unappealing to me but the yellow and deep green keep it interesting. The test placement and style is also nice and adds interest to the piece when it's lacking a strong subject. 6/10
For more indie folk check out my review of Julien Baker's Little Oblivions here
