Lucius - Wildewoman

They must be putting something into the water in Brooklyn these days. How else do you explain the sheer volume of quality music emanating from the Big Apple borough? The latest musical mavericks to roll out of the hippest neighbourhood in New York, Lucius are made up of co-vocalists Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, who also play keyboards/synths, along with Dan Molad (drums), Peter Lalish and Andrew Burri (both guitarists).

Their sound is built very much around the twin vocal assault of Wolfe and Laessig, whose voices curl around each other like tendrils of smoke, blending together seamlessly or complementing each other as perfectly as bacon and pineapple, depending on the song.

Musically, they veer from the sassy and polished fuzz-pop of ‘Hey, Doreen’ or ‘Turn It Around’, where Fleetwood Mac meets the Ting Tings, to the country twang of ‘Go Home’ or ‘Two Of Us On The Run’, courtesy of a bendy slide guitar and the kind of harmonies most Nashville natives would trade family members for. Then there’s the galloping, sun-kissed ‘Don’t Just Sit There’, the swoonsome ‘Monsters’ and the tribal rhythms of ‘Nothing Ordinary’, which features vocals so excitably high-pitched, they verge on the hysterical.

Lucius’ strongest suit, however, is the sweet cacophony of the superb title-track and the wonderful noise-pop of ‘How Loud Your Heart Gets’, which vie with each other for top track kudos.

The former is built on a foundation of acoustic guitar, drums and multi-layered vocals, like a low key Arcade Fire or Grouplove, and is nigh-on impossible to listen to without smiling, nodding or tapping your foot in time with this instantly addictive, raucous shoutalong, while the latter is a seriously infectious package of fuzzy guitar, thumping drums, whoa-whoa backing vocals and a chorus that sticks limpet-like to your cranium. It’s pop, kids, but not as we know it.