Other Lives: Tamer Animals (TBD, 5/10/11)
Other Lives: “For 12”
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Other_Lives_For_12.mp3|titles=Other Lives: “For 12”]After releasing one album under the name Kunek in 2006, Oklahoma quintet Other Lives changed names and presented a striking “debut” that landed somewhere between indie folk and chamber pop. Tamer Animals, the group’s sequel on TBD Records, intersperses more moments of instrumental prowess between the verses and choruses, giving the vocals more room to breathe and resulting in elongated intros, outros, and bridges.
The album is replete with vocal harmonies (some evoking classics like The Beatles‘ “Because”), and it’s just as packed with instrumental timbres — quickly twitching and slowly sliding string clusters, tinkling piano flourishes, acoustic guitar strums, western guitar licks, vibraphone accents, woodwind repetitions, and many others.