Dirty Projectors

Bitte Orca

[4.5/5]



It is a classic story: Indie band hover on the horizon, build a steady fanbase then finally cross into deeper mainstream success with an earth-shattering, high-profile release. Most times, there are classic benchmarks along the way: key festival performances, celebrity endorsements and early critical champions. (See: Arcade Fire, Death Cab For Cutie, Modest Mouse, et al.) But what is notable about that steady rise to fame–evidenced here in the new Dirty Projectors album, Bitte Orca–is for everyone who apes ingenuity in their drive to the spotlight, few deliver.



Thankfully, Bitte Orca is a textured, bizarre and welcomed reinvention of the genre. “Fluorescent Half Dome” finds vocalist David Longstreth crooning between Phil Collins-esque drum fills–dry, thin and airy. Gone is the precious, faux-gypsy yodeling that plagued previous releases. Instead we find a band confident in their groove and well aware of rock history. The record continues to pass at a clip. Filled with subtle references to the Sea & Cake’s neo-jazz (“Remade Horizon”), a healthy obsession with Paul Simon (“Two Doves”), Peter Gabriel (“No Intention”) and their respective pop takes on West African and Eastern motifs. But this is no fly-by-night post-modern mash-up; Bitte Orca is as confident, distinct and deserving a chapter in pop annals as anything released in recent history. (DOMINO) David T. Lewis

GO DOWNLOAD: “Fluorescent Half Dome”