Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: The Weekly

Simple Plan "Simple Plan" (Atlantic)

This is the section of the review where I am supposed to either apologize for what I am about to say or make some obscure musical reference to sustain indie-cred for the post-review backlash. But let's get real: I don't have a lot of cred in the indie scene. So I suppose this is the part of the review where I should make fun of the indie scene, putting myself above the scene. But let's be honest: The indie scene essentially makes fun of itself. The clothes, the music, the hair; it's all so ridiculously comical. I guess what I am trying to dance around is that, oddly enough, the new Simple Plan album is pretty great. There, I said it. That wasn't so hard now, was it?

- PHIL LINDERT

Beach House "Devotion" (Carpark Records)

When Beach House opened for Grizzly Bear in Chicago after their self-titled debut dropped in 2006, vocalist Victoria Legrand quietly giggled to herself between songs and awkwardly cheered at the confused audience to join in her fun. This type of audience interplay is Beach House to me: they lay down their music in a textured, confusing murmur for the listener to interpret. Devotion features more reined-in song arrangements thick with a fuzzy sheen. Legrand's organ lulls in hard, extended pulls underneath Alex Scally's swift guitar and piano. Legrand's scratchy voice washes over everything, soothing listeners into woozy half-consciousness. Gila is probably the best song on the album, perfecting the dreamy organic motif that makes Beach House's sophomore effort a welcome ethereal escape.

- LAURA MAYER

The Mae Shi "HLLYH" (TK Label)

The most aptly titled album of 2008 so far, The Mae Shi's HLLLYH, is a refreshing blast of fun indie rock. By combining punchy song structure with a glitchy electronic backbone, HLLLYH's 14 tracks thunder through a wide gamut of sounds ranging from danceable to downright odd. While songs like Pwnd and Run to Your Grave embrace a quirky punk aesthetic, others like I Get Almost Everything draw out the band's dense sound into sweeping melodies. The Mae Shi don't let their chaotic sound get in the way of sharp songwriting, though. Despite jarring bleeps and bloops on tracks like Kingdom Come (a long ass electronic number which borders the Panic! at the Disco level of ridiculous bombast), HLLLYH sounds cohesive in the way few albums do.

- ANDREW SHEIVACHMAN

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