The Antlers: Hospice

Label: French Kiss

Blog-rock of the most adorable stripe, the Antlers’ Hospice — originally self-released before being plucked by French Kiss and becoming a genuine indie hit — is full of highly anthemic songs by a trio of Brooklynites whose credits are revealing: Peter Silberman (vocals, guitar, accordion, harmonica, harp, keyboards), Darby Cicci (trumpet, bowed banjo), and Michael Lerner (drums, percussion). They are joined at times by golden-voiced folksinger Sharon Van Etten and bassist Justin Stivers. Obviously any band that has accordion, harmonica, and bowed banjo is not interested in operating by the standard formulas of indie rock, but they’ve got two of them down pat: quiet verse/loud chorus and epic crescendo. It’s lo-fi when they want fuzzy ambiguity but perfectly clear when they reach their climaxes, and always sweetly melodic. (Steve)