Givers - In Light

With a new year comes a new alternative pop import from across the pond. We’ve had Yeasayer, we’ve had Vampire Weekend. But could 2011 be Givers’ year? The answer is yes. ‘In Light’, in fact, is one big fat metaphorical YES.

From the opening gunshot ‘Up Up Up’, it’s clear what to expect from this record - it’s an almost ecstatically upbeat pop song, which may be too sweet for many musical pallets. ‘Meantime’ however manages to get the balance between sugary-pop goodness and necessary darkness just right. With twinkling guitars and off-kilter drums we are introduced to ‘Ripe’, one of the most successful songs on the album. The synths’ spaz-out moments and the lusciousness of the guitars mark ‘Ripe’ as one of the album’s highlights.

However, when a band with such a sweet tooth makes an album it can become too much to stomach. A typical album of this sweetness features songs rarely breaking to three-minute mark, ‘In Light’ however features not a single song under four minutes. For any normal band this would not be a problem, yet some of the songs do drag on a bit too long, and some choruses are heard one too many times.

The strength of both Tiffany Lamson’s and Taylor Guarisco’s vocals provide that boy-girl contrast that it’s hard not to warm to. ‘In Light’ is probably too sweet for many, and can become sickly in large doses. This is an album to be enjoyed after dinner; I’d suggest Lou Reed’s ‘Berlin’, or Joy Division’s ‘Closer’ as suitable starters to this extremely rich pudding of an album.