LOCAL NATIVES – Gorilla Manor

The Silver Lake quintet Local Natives have been compared to groups such as Vampire Weekend, Animal Collective, and other bands that combine modern day indie rock with international influences. However, to this lowly reviewer’s ears, there are no hints of afropop, or lo-fi calamity present on their debut full-length Gorilla Manor. It mostly apes Canada’s best and brightest of the last decade: keyboardist Kelcey Ryan and guitarists Ryan Hahn and Taylor Rice’s soulful vocals are reminiscent of Feist (“Airplanes”); on the stellar single “Sun Hands” the delightful oddness of Tegan & Sara come to mind; the Arcade Fire’s influence on the rousing album closer “Stranger Things” is hard to ignore.

Their refusal to underestimate the power of three-part harmonies really shines on their cover of the Talking Heads’ “Warning Sign,” which gives the original a gorgeous pop sheen. In light of recent current events, the opener “Wide Eyes,” which, according to Ryan, is concerned with “people’s obsession with the miraculous and the disastrous,” feels at once prophetic and satirical. And you’ve been forewarned: “Who Knows Who Cares” is the summer concert festival jam. Expect the hyperactive teenaged hipster-in-training who is jammed next to you at Coachella or Reading to be shouting this ditty at the top of their lungs and right into your ear.

(Frenchkiss Records, 111 East 14th St., Suite 229, New York, NY 10003)