ODD BLOOD - Yeasayer (2010)

Odd blood indeed! From the trippy "organic buried under layers of technological goop" cover art, to the sometimes bizarre song titles, to the wildly buoyant, mad-scientists-at-play synth freakouts presented on the actual CD, Odd Blood is an album positively infatuated with it's own inner strangeness.

Lucky for us, after three or four listens working through its quirks, it also emerges as one of the catchiest and most engaging dance-pop albums of the year. And while there's a definite unevenness to the quality of the tracks, the consistency of the album's upbeat, adventurous nature holds it all together, even on obvious throwaways like the dirge-like opener The Children (most people's least favorite track) and the inane but unstoppably propulsive Rome.

So if the thought of loopy dance rock as propulsive as stock-and-trade Franz Ferdinand and as manically pastiched as present day Of Montreal floats your boat, I strongly recommend you pick this one up.

Status: Strong Recommend

Downloading Cherry Picker's Best Bets: Ambling Alp, I Remember, O.N.E., Mondegreen.

Component Breakdown:

1. The Children - 7
2. Ambling Alp - 8
3. Madder Red - 9
4. I Remember - 9
5. O.N.E. - 10
6. Love Me Girl - 7
7. Rome - 8
8. Strange Reunions - 6
9. Mondegreen - 8
10. Grizelda - 7

Intangibles - High