The Stills

Without Feathers

[4/5] In the spirit of self-reinvention, the Stills have shaken off the arch gloominess of their 2004 debut album and leapt into sunny major-key bliss on Without Feathers. Evidently, surviving a massive lineup change and embracing their inner Canuck (specifically, the Band) have brightened up the NYC-via-Montreal band somethin’ nice: “Oh Shoplifter” is an infectious ray of sunshine that’s all handclaps and foot stomps, and “Destroyer” sounds like a lost ’70s-pop-radio hit, complete with punchy horns and bubbling organ. That’s not to say the NYC-informed spirit of the Stills’ American experience isn’t still in evidence: “Helicopters” and “Baby Blues” (featuring vocals by Metric’s Emily Haines) hum and pulse with the angular grit of the Strokes–but the infusion of new blood, thankfully, seems to have put the Stills’ post-punk posturing and emotional distance to bed for good.
(VICE/ATLANTIC) Erick Haight