At Dusted, I have a review up of Via Audio’s Animalore, an album about which I had mixed feelings.
…while the band and producer Jim Eno (of Spoon) seem to have savored the opportunity to use the studio, the most straightforwardly played songs on Animalore — the ballad “Wantedâ€� and the breathy folk-pop of “Oh Blah Weeâ€� — are among its best. And the stylistic variation doesn’t always work — consider “Babies,â€� which at times recalls the subdued funk of Belle & Sebastian’s “Your Cover’s Blown.â€� That in and of itself isn’t a bad thing, but the chorus’s refrain of “I want to make babies with youâ€� leaves it unclear whether this is a sincere statement, or a tongue-in-cheek parody of slow-jam excess.
You can read the whole thing here.