Suckers – Wild Smile
Wild Smile’s close-up of a baboon/mandrill/monkey/whatever is somewhat misleading, as Suckers aren’t nearly as madcap as it might suggest. And, if anything, the band are best viewed from a distance too, for their album has a lot to absorb.
Though influences abound (“A Mind I Knew” is as sleek and calculated as latter-day TV On The Radio , and “Martha”, mariachi brass and all, recalls The Walkmen ‘s current stately sway bled through with Vampire Weekend ‘s lightest afro-sizzle), Suckers remain unto themselves and their NYC loft spaces.
As a result, Wild Smile is a distinct improvement on its preceding and patchy EP, from which, nevertheless, the sublime “It Gets Your Body Movin’” survives (itself indebted to the more anthemic parts of the Modest Mouse canon). Elsewhere, the synth driven “Back Sheep” strides confidently on guitar licks and arty new-wave body-pops.
It appears that Suckers’ variety in delivery, if not construct, is their weapon, and it more than holds the attention from start to finish, indeed from “Save Your Love For Me”, which jangles in early 90s guitars and theatrical falsettos, all the way to “Loose Change”, which aims for and hits tongue-in-cheek, Broadway bombast. In between, it’s all rarely less than wildly entertaining too, and comes delivered with an impeccable earnest, poppy sheen.
Just one questions remains – Suckers, them or us?
Advised downloads: “Black Sheep” and “It Gets Your Body Movin'”.
~Wild Smile is out now on French Kiss .~