It's Mwangi In Front of Me

2007 got a lot of well-deserved press and praise for being a remarkable year in music. It certainly had some heavy-hitters, some big releases, and some overlooked gems. I find fault with this lauding only because it casts a large shadow over 2008 which, within a mere two months, has impressed the hell out of me. Aside from the insanely good Beach House and Atlas Sound records, there was the Evangelicals album, and a great new epic from Drive-By Truckers. There's about to be some massive riffage from Stephen Malkmus...I could go on and on.

While I'm hesitant to say that the Ruby Suns' Sea Lion is my favorite album of 2008 so far (only because I flip-flop on that issue, McCain style), I'm certainly pretty stoked on it at the moment. It comes out on Tuesday, and I highly recommend venturing into the local polyvinyl chloride dealer to pick it up. The whole record has a whimsical, pleasant vibe that recalls Mark Mothersbaugh's Wes Anderson scores, as well as Elephant Six stuff and the recent energy of Animal Collective's work (sorry about the AC name-drop, folks, I know it's almost as commonplace a crime these days as jacking a Honda Civic).

Incorporating a variety of instruments and musical styles (the record sounds geographic), Sea Lion will sweep you away towards a bucolic valley backyard barbecue. The album sounds like the musical equivalent of Esperanto. In a good way.

It opens with "Blue Penguin," which demonstrates the Suns' knack for ambient build-ups, and it's followed by "Oh Mojave," which creates a buoyant swirl of Hawaiian harmonies. "Tane Mahuta" is a fast-paced charmer with a head-bopping horn section. It's succeeded by the more-traditionally-structured "There Are Birds," which drips with sweet, shoegazey reverb. "It's Mwangi in Front of Me" is the album's ambient sound-collage centerpiece, and the five tracks which follow return to the energetic beauty hinted at on Side A. The highlights of the album's last half are definitely the gorgeous melody of "Ole Rinka", and basically all of the sprawling, evolving "This Adventure Tour", and "Kenya Dig It?".

The Ruby Suns - Tane Mahuta

The Ruby Suns - It's Mwangi In Front of Me

The Ruby Suns - Kenya Dig It?