Album of the Week: Discovery’s LP loses the plot

I expected this to be a slam dunk, a gimme, a home run, if you will. After all, Discovery has excellent pedigree – it’s the side project of Vampire Weekend producer/keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij and Ra Ra Riot lead singer Wes Miles; the Hot Chip-y pre-release singles (“Orange Shirt,” “Osaka Loop Line”) were very promising, if not spectacular; and the electro-pop side-project collaboration had even been done before – hello Postal Service — so they’re following a nicely worn path. But I’m surprised LP doesn’t work better for me. The cover of the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” is expertly done, not to mention well timed, and “Carby,” featuring VW’s better lead vocalist Ezra Koenig, is a stand-out, but there are too many other moments that are either too dull or grating, despite the band’s high-quality lineage. Take “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend,” featuring Dirty Projectors’ singer Angel Deradoorian: it begins strong, drawing you in with its sweet, stuttering vocals. But the song languishes from there and the synth sounds become more ringtone-ish than clever. The upside is I’m sure it’ll sound good on your Nokia. B-

Discovery: Orange Shirt (from Stereogum)
from LP
MP3 • BUY • MYSPACE • OFFICIAL SITE

And for more new sounds, make sure to subscribe to my latest podcast, JeffMix2009.06.27 (also on iTunes), featuring music from Eels, Jay Reatard, FrankMusik, Wheat, and Master Shortie, among others.