NOTE: A lot of records are being released this week. More than we have room for in our eight-pages every Thursday. As such, we're running some reviews online this week. Check back here throughout the week for reviews of the new WHY?, Owen, Times New Viking and more and don't forget to pick up the paper Thursday for those other reviews.
Perhaps most famous for being on Pitchfork's list of best songs of the decade before even releasing an album, the Big Pink's debut, A Brief History of Love, should be a wretched affair. A post-shoegaze, electro rock, indie pop release with a hefty title not to mention the band's name, it's the perfect fodder for some big in 2009, gone in 2010 band.
But Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell do one better. A Brief History of Love is a wholly enjoyable confection. The two approach their music with an all-too-British earnestness, endearing themselves with four-plus-minute pop songs about, what else--love. But what matters on these tracks is not that they are about love but how they sound. In fact, the duo could go Sigur Ros on these lyrics and it wouldn't make a difference.
The best point of access to A Brief History of Love are "Dominos" and "Velvet," the latter included on Pitchfork's list, the former being one of the catchiest tracks to emerge this side of "Young Folks." As a whole, the album is a sonic boom of sound from "Too Young to Love", an overwhelming, intricate burst of energy, to the slower title track. I'm still piecing together how the album functions as a larger work, but these 11 tracks are all stand-outs.
By the end of the almost 50 minutes, it's hard to tell whether Furze and Cordell have charted the high points in an abridged chronology of love, but I'm certainly ready for the next volume in their history.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.