Review Summary: IT IT is as IT IT is
Ping pong beats, a pop quiz answer sheet, foreign chants, and a rainbow colored, penis-shaped snail fever dream. Trying to reason with a band blatantly pushing insanity is futile, especially as it doesn’t seem that the Pennsylvanian experimental pop outfit understand their antics themselves. The initial draw, and biggest indicator that IT IT are crazy, is the eclectic sampling that fills every crack and crevice of the record, and the fact that they don’t make a lick of sense. Surely, their purpose is something more than just quirky space fillers, as their inclusion strengthens the record sonically in ways otherwise impossible with a more sensical songwriting approach. In no way is this a detriment to the quality of
Formal Odors as a whole, though. On the contrary, IT IT succeed perfectly well with solid, thoroughly enjoyable craftwork that nails its intended image. Most importantly, despite the aforementioned,
Formal Odors isn’t all insanity and madness. While the spastic sampling is the album’s definitive hook, it’s the calmer moments that are the record’s line and sinker.
IT IT can be best described as “Local Natives on acid”, an apt description that comes packaged with groove heavy drum fills and slower, serene guitar work and spacey atmospheres. The gradually building storm of vintage keys, dial up internet hiss, and recordings of random conversations on top of softly sung vocals on “After or With Me” is all that it takes to notice how well IT IT tie their two prominent elements together despite the noticeable, scatterbrained approach. While on the other hand, the slow prancing drum beat below heavenly falsettos and an accompanying chorus of synthesized, robotic chop vocals of “Dawn Ever” illustrate the strength of the elements when isolated. And the rest of the album isn’t shy of these moments, either, with each and every track keeping up the pace and continuously surprising.
Formal Odors as a whole is an album that just works. Ideas and elements that, on paper, shouldn’t work at all come together to create a perfectly cohesive product. Thanks to songwriting that recognizes how to incorporate its off kilter elements into the record’s lighter moments,
Formal Odors establishes itself as one of the weirdest, yet most enjoyable records of the year.
