Cymbals Eat Guitars: Why There Are Mountains

Label: Sister's Den

Fans of canonical indie-rock: If you haven’t already hupped to it with Cymbals Eat Guitars in the wake of the notice Pitchfork gave to this album, well, it’s not too late. This scattered-around-NYC quintet is one of many new indie groups that add little to what’s come before elementally speaking, but frontman Joseph D’Agostino & Co. excel in outright confidence. Which is to say that on Why There Are Mountains, Cymbals Eat Guitars knit together often unusually long pieces that rarely hew to classic song form, cruising instead through passages — some might say movements — of varying intensity and color. If that sounds too arty for your ears, worry not: The band’s palette draws from the tried-and-true: quiet-to-loud dynamics; energy readings ranging from sleepy to earnest and nervy; D’Agostino’s clear-bell vocals, which take on a classic rasp when he pushes things. Guitars, bass, keybs, drums, hooks hooks hooks. If you are unashamedly an indie-rocker, then this is the indie-rock you like — just stretched and pulled and relaxed in interesting ways. (M.L. Thrope)