Boats A Fairway Full of Miners

Boats' new album A Fairway Full of Miners is at times jarring, confusing, and offputting. It's also brilliant, bizarre and a tad schizophrenic. If you need proof that indie rock can still surprise you, Boats has the answer in these twelve songs. A resounding hell yes.

One thing to get out of the way: lead singer Mat Klachefsky has a very, very high voice that can be grating at times. However, harmonizing with other singers and the incredibly diverse and beautiful concoction of instrumentation behind it help tremendously, and although it might not be for everyone, it fits the frenetic energy Boats exudes on almost every song.

The album lets you know immediately what you're in for with the frantic Animated GIFs, in which a call and response chorus gleefully tells you that "all your friends will turn to shit." It's a song that perfectly captures what Boats is doing on Fairway, which is throwing bouncy, catchy melodies wrapped in every instrument available through your headphones alongside some off-the-wall lyrics: Never ever ever change your font size. Never ever become a vengeful ghost.

The songs are a diverse set of energetic pieces. Sad Legs, with its sputtering guitar opening and cosmic whirs and purs in the background that eventually give way to Klachefsky's mile-high vocals and a chant-like chorus that doesn't materialize until three minutes in, delivers a great MGMT impersonation.

Great Skulls adds some 8-bit chimes and horns aplenty to the mix, creating a jumbled but exciting song that practically vibrates with unspent energy. Meanwhile, O Telescope delivers two minutes of fuzzed-out guitars and frenzied screaming that somehow manages not to be annoying but exciting.

However, when the band hits the brakes on Fairway is when things start to go awry. Advice on Bears tries to be twee, and ends up sounding like a Belle and Sebastian cover band in a helium tent. We Got Tables and Chairs likewise slows things down enough that you begin to tire of the high-pitched singing, and the straightforward low-key guitar and keyboard combo feels lackadaisical after the instrumental onslaught of the previous tracks.

Even though the album falters in a few places, the sheer amount of energy found here is something that you cannot help but respond to. It's refreshing to hear an album that tries to be both experimental and catchy, and for all its faults, A Fairway Full of Miners has moments of frenzied pop bliss that are hard to top.

This is not an album to be taken too seriously, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be respected. This is a batch of hyper songs wrapped around clever (if bizarre) phrases and some truly bouncy synth-pop. Taken at face value, the album is a caffeinated ray of sunshine. Boats has made something beautiful and invigorating at moments, while puzzling and slightly alienating at others. I cannot wait to hear where they go from here.