Review: The Apples in Stereo's Travelers in Space & Time

An indie rock band form Denver, The Apples in Stereo have been at it for fifteen years, and 2010’s Travelers in Space & Time is their seventh studio effort. It is a delightfully cheery indie/rock/electro/dance/lightly experimental album that, in almost every instance, mixes this wide collection of styles with skill and grace. Elements of rock and roll are found in this album that are just barely removed from the blues, and lyrics that definitely aren’t.

The fifth track, Dance Floor is a perfect example of everything that’s right with this album: A strong, harmonized hook right off the bat. Quick tempo moved along by unobtrusive, but still energetic bass and drums. Twangy, muted guitars. Appropriately vague and mushy lyrics given great delivery, and laden wonderfully with highly vocoded harmonies and echoes. It’s an immediately catchy love anthem that’s far enough off the beaten path to stand apart from the mainstream, but built strongly enough upon the same fundamentals that it’s just as good, for all the same reasons. I defy anyone to listen to the song and not begin dancing in their seat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6-m6ZgD670&feature=related

A wide range of instrumentation fills the album, from strings both steel and synthesized, horns, guitars, and auto-tuned electro-spacey vocals, the brief Strange Solar System is a pleasant little foray into the realm of auto-harmonized choruses. Throughout, though, it’s clear that these guys prefer their guitars and acoustic pianos most of all, with a groovy piano-rock line propelling the opening Dream About the Future.

Not all of the electronic elements work as well as they could, though. C.P.U. is led by a highly dissonant, extremely computerized melody, the bass drones, the drums thud, and the whole track is very muddy and plodding. I listened to it quite a few times, trying to find something to latch on, but to no avail.

There are a few other instances where the electronic arrangements don’t quite fit, but as stated earlier, the vast majority of this album is simply a joy to listen to. The Apples in Stereo have made an infectiously catchy, constantly upbeat, popping fifty minutes of music that will grab your attention with its simplistic presentation, and keep you coming back to seek out all the little accents and melodies that fill the background of every single track.