Review Summary: Accessible and catchy, deep and enticing, Nightcrawler has something for everyone. The album is one of the most varied indie pop albums of the year, but that also makes the album very broad and not cohesive at all.
I was at my father’s house a few days ago and I had this album playing. He came to the computer and said he needed to check his e-mail, and I let him. The album just started, so it was only a few seconds into
Vampyre when he sat down. I saw him subconsciously begin tapping his foot and begin swaying to the music. That made me smile and chuckle a little. Then it made me realize how awesome Pete Yorn is. I picked up Nightcrawler and loved the awesome intricacy and songwriting talents of Yorn. But there’s a reason this peaked at #50 on the US album charts. It’s brilliantly accessible and catchy with still tons to find in the music in further listens.
Pete Yorn has access to just about anything he wants. He has his own backing band, they call themselves Minibar, but he calls in help from the likes of the Dixie Chicks to aid him in his third full length album. He’s on Columbia Records, so he can get whatever he wants. Still further, Yorn and his producing team took extreme precision to this album. The overall effect is an immensely dense sound that still manages to glisten with catchy and beautiful melodies. The mix may be that of layers upon layers of guitar and veiled piano chords only for expanding the voice and beauty of each and every chord. Electronic drum backing and various electronic swells and effects find their way onto the album in abundance, simply giving more substance to each song. Each instrument Yorn uses gets a chance to shine, and with such a plethora of instruments, it gives the album incredible variety. When the album is stripped down to its roots, one finds brilliant and unique chord progressions with a great sense of direction throughout everything.
Sure, the music is superb and all, but how’s Yorn’s voice? It is certainly adequate enough; he has a melancholic, slurred tone that fits in well with his music. The style sits in with the multitude of melodies but he still has enough clarity to stand out in the more stripped down sections. His only issue comes in the climatic and more intense parts. He sometimes cannot keep up with his own compositions. Lyrically, Yorn is original enough. He sings typically relationship-based songs but never falls into anything overly cliché or unoriginal. He uses great metaphors to bring points and messages together but he never overextends the metaphors for more than they are worth. He never overpowers his music and the fact that his music is the album’s best quality, not his voice, makes Nightcrawler stand out against all of Yorn’s contemporaries.
As to which tracks you’ll like, I have no idea. It depends on your tastes. Nightcrawler is extremely consistent, as nearly every song has something fantastic to offer. Warren Zevon fans will find
Splendid Isolation as a track of familiarity, as it is a Zevon cover.
Undercover, the lead single, bubbles with catchiness and is most likely to catch a listener’s attention with it’s easy song structure, fantastic chorus, and great melodies. Or maybe the more linear songs that grow throughout, such as
Vampyre or
Ice Age will stick out.
The Man is a folk influenced, fiddle-infused beauty that features the vocals of Dixie Chick Natalie Maines.
Georgia Boy takes an electronic spin on things, letting the electronic drums and noises that made short appearances on the rest of the album take center stage. I could go on, as each track has its own special quality, but really, everyone just needs to take a listen to Nightcrawler, because there’s something for everyone. It borders on too much variety, as the album just feels like a collection of songs rather than an album. Still, Pete Yorn is a master of songwriting, and he took everything into account for Nightcrawler. Everything from the base chord progressions to the overall production is about as good as it gets for something so poppy and accessible. Just try it.
Recommended Tracks:
Vampyre
Undercover
The Man
Maybe I’m Right
Ice Age
Georgia Boy
