Hummingbird
Local Natives
Infectious/Frenchkiss Records
From their humble beginnings as a group in 2009, Los Angeles indie rockers Local Natives have come a long way. Self-funding and producing their first record Gorilla Manor that same year, the album showed a real sense of youthful energy amongst the five-piece band. With their second major release, Hummingbird, Local Natives present a new sense of maturity in their music, offering up a very strong effort which shows that any sort of “sophomore slump” is nonexistent within their career.
The band first draws us in with the sultry, dreamy feel of opening track “You and I,” complete with slow, grooving drums and almost operatic vocal stylings of frontman Taylor Rice. This atmospheric, airy style plays into a wealth of other tracks on the album as well— notably on cuts such as “11:11,” “Ceilings,” and “Breakers.” Hummingbird can, at times, also be a very dynamic record, priding itself on rising and falling volumes and sensible arrangements. Tracks such as “Colombia” and “Bowery” start in a very quiet and lush manner, before gradually building into powerful, heady pieces.
The group also seems to bring a newfound sense of improvement with regards to playing their respective instruments. Drummer Matt Frazier’s work behind the kit is consistently crisp and clean, offering up technically sound performances on all tracks no matter how complicated the rhythms may seem. Ryan Hahn’s contributions on keyboard do an exceptional job of adding an extra dimension to the sound and atmosphere of the record. “Black Spot” is a piece built entirely around a delicate, yet dissonant, frenzied piano line from start to finish. The vocal harmonies the band incorporates should also receive mention, layered to perfection as they rise up over top of their exceptional instrumental ideas. The guitar work from Rice, Hahn, and Kelcey Ayer also stood out in a number of places across the record, most notably on the track “Black Balloons,” which sees the six-string players lay down a very Bon Iver-esque hook.
By the end of the listen, Hummingbird stands up as a very nice indie surprise early on in 2013. While I find most young bands within the genre struggle to take their sound to new heights with each album cycle, Local Natives seem to have no problems in bucking the trend.
