An album like “Tropical Jinx” is hard to put a succinct description on. Little Big League has made something close to punk, but not quite it.
deserves more attention. After the Philly quartet’s first release, “These Are Good People,” there were ripples of blog buzz, but no significant waves. Maybe “Tropcal Jinx” will be different.
The band is made up of Michelle Zauner and Kevin O’Halloran, formerly of Post Post, Ian Dykstra of Titus Andronicus and Deven Craige of Strand Oaks, so itap a good sampling of what the punk-ish indie-rock scene in Philly has to offer. “Tropical Jinx” can sometimes have the distorted, swirling feel of a My Bloody Valentine song, especially on “Deer Head,” and there are reasons to stack Little Big League up against Speedy Ortiz, but this is still a different band with a different style. Little Big League’s best quality is the sunny guitar melodies that sing clearly above the denser, heavier stuff. The opening licks of “Tropical Jinx” sound like a stoned drive down the coast in a beat-up car.
That’s not to diminish all the detail in the thick forests of harmonies or Michelle Zauner’s alluringly fried voice, nor the songwriting. The songs somehow feel huge and more complex than sub-four-minute songs have any right to.
“Property Line,” in particular, stands out as one the most expansive and beautiful tracks on “Tropical Jinx.” The way the guitar harmonies intertwine is mesmerizing, the hooks are effective in their simplicity, Zauner sings with more emotion in her voice and then — surprise — there’s a brief, quietly soaring trumpet melody. Another high point, “Sucker,” showcases another strength of Little Big League — a surf-rock propulsion and biting, angsty punk lyrics. Zauner gets much more raw and aggressive, nearly shouting, hoarse-voiced, “I’m a dog.”
Her ability to move from a whispered coo to a vicious shout is impressive in that all of it sounds natural. It matches her lyrical style well, too, from the simple and semi-sweet, “I want you / every other day,” to a sadly told tale about killing a bug while trying to get it out of the house on the appropriately titled “Take It To a Weird Sad Place,” to “the girl’s got a gun / she is every girl / walking home at night.”
An album like “Tropical Jinx” is hard to put a succinct description on. Little Big League has made something close to punk, but not quite it. The vocals and lyrics have a ’90s alt-rock angst and there’s an obvious love for warm guitar tones and crafting knotty harmonies. The mix works so that even of you can see and appreciate the gears working beneath the surface, it’s really enjoyable.
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Ashley Dean is an editor and designer for YourHub at the Denver Post and a regular contributor to Reverb.
