Akron/Family: Set 'em Wild, Set 'em Free
Label: Dead Oceans
Everybody’s favorite band-with-a-slash-in-its-name follows up Love Is Simple with another spectacularly eclectic offering that flits from screaming brass (somewhere between Balkan marching band and avant-garde improv with African flavors) to lo-fi piano-plus-vocals—and that’s just on one song, “Gravelly Mountains of the Moon.” Elsewhere on Set ‘em Wild, Set ‘em Free there’s some harmonica so raw even Dylan might be taken aback, some chants so primal I expected spirits to appear, songs that sound done that then kick back in again, and so many bone-rattling crescendos that Akron/Family could’ve named the album Thirteen Ways of Recycling Ravel’s Bolero. Its ramshackle beauty is unparalleled by anything else in indie rock. (Steve)
