Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros - Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros (2013)

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is the third album from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
The wild, woolly gospel of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros arrived in 2009, a self-reinvention of lead singer/songwriter/bandleader Alex Ebert, who was coming off his snarky mid-aughts dance-punk unit Ima Robot. Reborn as something of a messianic character leading an enormous hippie rock commune/caterwauling backing band, Ebert worked with his Zeros in an ever-anthemic framework on both 2009's debut Up from Below and its 2012 follow-up Here. Both these albums borrowed generously from a variety of classic rock radio staples and dorm-room favorites, weaving the influence of everyone from the Doors to Bob Marley into their tunes, resulting in a few hyper-catchy standout tracks and a fair amount of filler. Their third, self-titled album is much the same, but with a few key variants. The crystal-clear production of the earlier albums is replaced with a much more raw, even overdriven sound. Ebert's vocals crackle both with his trademark emphatic delivery and also this newfound layer of production fuzz. Likewise, the instruments are a little more scuffed-up and lo-fi than on previous releases, with notably distorted drums meshing with a soup of defocused instruments. Another change this time around comes in the wandering song structures. The shuffling, Sgt. Pepper's-indebted "Let's Get High" moves through a handclapping poppy section full of blurting brass and "high on love" choruses before slowing down into murky doo wop structures around the three-minute mark and eventually spending the last minute or so on swirling vocal chants. Uncommon structural turns like this happen throughout the album, with tracks like "If I Were Free" wandering into unexpected jammy sections. The Beatles worship that was prevalent on Up from Below returns with a vengeance, with multiple references to Lennon/McCartney compositions, sometimes as blatant as the crunchy guitar lead of "Oh! Darling" being appropriated for the chorus of the Zeros' "This Life" and other times as subtle as a vocal affectation borrowed from Let It Be. Vocalist Jade Castrinos again joins Ebert with her passionate howl, adding life to the record on her sole lead vocal tune, "Remember to Remember." Along with the Beatles-borrowed marching band sounds and milky guitar tones, the band also tries on a '60s soul influence, bringing to mind Devendra Banhart's fractured take on doo wop on tracks like "They Were Wrong." The album tends to drag, with all 12 tracks lingering a little too long and being weighted down with more musical ornamentation than they can actually hold. Though they've toned down the theatrical bent that made Here sometimes feel more like excerpts from Godspell than the work of a rock band, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros still deliver more in the way of spirit, affectation, and high-energy performance than they do with memorable tunes. Only a handful of the tracks here have a lot of staying power, and the rest, while always colorful and even enjoyable, are fast to fade.

Track listing

01.  "Better Days"  (Nico Aglietti, Alex Ebert) - 4:25
02.  "Let's Get High"  (Alex Ebert)  - 6:30
03.  "Two"  (Alex Ebert, Mark Noseworthy, Seth Ford Young)  - 3:27
04.  "Please!"  (Alex Ebert)  - 3:32
05.  "Country Calling"  (Alex Ebert)  - 3:30
06.  "Life Is Hard"  (Jade Castrinos, Alex Ebert)  - 3:30
07.  "If I Were Free"  (Josh Collazo, Alex Ebert, Mark Noseworthy, Seth Ford Young)  - 5:37
08.  "In the Lion"  (Alex Ebert)  - 4:33
09.  "They Were Wrong"  (Alex Ebert)  - 3:42
10.  "In the Summer"  (Alex Ebert)  - 3:35
11.  "Remember to Remember"  (Jade Castrinos, Stewart Cole, Alex Ebert)  - 4:22
12.  "This Life"  (Nico Aglietti)  - 5:59

Credits
Alex Ebert - vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, percussion, string arrangements, keyboards, electric bass, basketball, melodica
Jade Castrinos - vocals, acoustic guitar
Christian Letts - electric and acoustic guitar, 12 string guitar, mandolin, marching bass drum, vocals
Stewart Cole - trumpet, synths, piano, alto horn, flugelhorn, baritone horn, cornet, hammond and lowrey organs, wurli, clav, pump organ, recorder, vocals
Mark Noseworthy - electric and acoustic guitar, 11 string guitar, ronrocco, tenor banjo, slide guitar, electric 12 string guitar, mandolin, vocals
Crash - vocals
Orpheo McCord - percussion, drums, marimba, vocals
Nora Kirkpatrick - accordion, organ, keys, omnichord, vocals
Josh Collazo - drums, concert toms, percussion, alto saxophone, vocals
Seth Ford-Young - electric bass, upright bass, vocals
Aaron Arntz - piano on Better Days and If I Were Free
Nico Algietti - electric guitar on Remember to Remember, Please, acoustic on Life Is Hard
Roger Joseph Manning Jr. - piano on Life Is Hard
Aaron Embry - piano and organ solo on This Life
Nathaniel Markman - violin on They Were Wrong and Remember to Remember
Fred Bows and Susie Park - violins on Two, Life Is Hard, and In The Lion

Notes
Recorded at: Adios Studios a.k.a. the Ed Shed - Ojai, California, Studio in the Country - Bogalusa, Louisiana, Ocean Way Recording - Los Angeles, CA
Genre: Indie Folk, Gospel, Neo-Psychedelia, Roots Rock, Indie Rock
Length: 56:57

© 2013 Vagrant Records