11 Feb 09
Vetiver
(Wiki) | (Last.FM) | (Myspace)
Tight Knit
[February 17, 2009] | [Sub Pop]
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8.2/10
Vetiver is one of those bands that have never really garnered the respect that they so rightfully deserve. The band, led by Andy Cabic, is going to release their newest LP titled Tight Knit in just one week. Once again, the band has brought much of their beautiful songwriting and uniqueness to the record. The album is by far their most accessible yet giving listener’s pure enjoyment of indie folk music all the way through.
The album starts with “Rolling Sea”, my favorite track on the record. The song is maybe one of the most peaceful tunes I’ve heard from them. The gorgeous finger picking on acoustic guitar throughout the entire song makes your heart melt. Think George Harrison and James Taylor sitting at a beach fire with a couple of acoustic guitars. Yeah, it’s gorgeous. Cabic’s vocals are soothing and believable and you can’t help but put a picture to every lyric he sings. “Rolling Sea” might be one of the best songs Cabic has written for Vetiver, using the sea as an instrumentation of not letting love die. The record continues with songs such as “Everyday”, a terrific indie pop song that brings a raw folk flavor to it. The simple chords in the song play out quickly and can’t help but make you smile. “On The Other Side” resurrects older Vetiver songs with harmonized vocals and slide guitar played over some electronic instruments and acoustic guitar chords. There’s even a guitar solo in this one! The transition from song to song is excellent as Vetiver captures all kinds of different emotions, making us frown one second to making us smile the next. It is a tremendously easy record to get through because of this which in my opinion makes it a better album.
Vetiver has once again captured my heart with their new record, Tight Knit. I was very excited to learn that the record would be released so early on in the year and the album has met almost all of my high expectations. As a whole, I think this record might be their most motivated and most complete. On other records we might find a song that doesn’t belong but here we see a list of tracks that all bring a different meaning to the table and my curiosity of each song has me listening over and over again. Vetiver continues to process their fundamental guitar riffs while growing as a band. Their recent move to Sub Pop records will surely continue develop the band as we can already see on Tight Knit.
-Eric
