Guards

After snagging a free single on iTunes, I have been listening a lot to the new Guards album, In Guards We Trust. "Silver Lining" and "Coming True" are two of my favorite tracks. The group reminds me a bit of The Joy Formidable, Tanlines, or Lord Huron. Check them out on World Cafe. 

Says Consequence of Sound:

The highs are so high in those first songs that even Guards seem to get vertigo. There are only so many anthems an album can line up in a row, but Guards stacks them all at the top. “Ready to Go” and “Heard the News” feel like they should crash in at the climax of the record rather than in its first half, as there’s nowhere to go but down from these rollicking choruses. “Coming True” aside, part two settles down to a mellower register, caging the punch teased in its first few songs.

At its best, In Guards We Trust is terrific fun — a bold break from the cynicism and detachment that characterizes too much of the band’s native city. But a few more careful edits might have kept the record from blowing its gasket by side B.