Each Other - Being Elastic (2014)

The kaleidoscopic collage that graces the cover of Canadian indie trio Each Other's debut full-length, Being Elastic, gives some hints into their whirlwind take on strange but sunny pop. Made up of three musicians who sing in unison for most of the album, Each Other's weird and winding compositions have all the cheery melodicism of early, quirky Elephant 6 acts like Of Montreal or the Circulatory System, chopped and reconfigured into edgier guitar-rocking forms not unlike the most left-field Deerhoof songs. The entire album was recorded to analog tape at the band's home studio, setting the final product apart from the more typical digital editing and processing of Each Other's contemporaries. The band's nasal harmonies and stop-start guitar lines are at their best on catchier tracks like "Send Your Signals" or the slinky off-kilter groove of "Your Ceiling Is My Floor." Album-opener "About the Crowd" taps into burning guitar tones and intertwining vocal lines that are both dissonant and melodic. The song's short running time manages to bring to mind everyone from Apples in Stereo to the little-known recording project band Dymaxion, flying by and changing gears every 20 seconds or so. Each Other's songs have the same multicolor re-envisioning of summery '60s chamber pop as Chris Cohen's brilliant solo work, but the band's jagged and angular guitar interplay tends more toward a lighter version of no wave's abrasiveness. The combination is unique and curious, and Being Elastic requires close listening to separate its bevy of hooks from its equally ample complex and spindly instrumental passages.