Last weekend I took a road trip to eat some ribs at Montgomery Inn, a humdinger of a rib joint in my hometown of Cincinnati.  That’s a four hour drive down I-71 and, besides the sprawling capitol, Columbus, there are all sorts of rural nooks and crannies to get lost in.  Along the way, the lady friend and I decided to stop in rural Waynesville to mill around a huge flea market they’ve got in town.  We parked ourselves at a dusty diner just off the exit and, much to my shock, the old-school jukebox in the corner of the eatery wasn’t even plugged in.  Although it confused the bleach-blonde midwestern teenage servers, I plugged it in and found my favorite Talking Heads tune, “Road to Nowhere,” and played it twice through.  Take a pause for a second and picture this awkwardly juxtaposing moment.  David Byrne’s standard delivery and experimental brilliance paired with the traditionally cultureless blah of middle America.  I cocked my hat to the side and enjoyed the off-kilter reaction of both the patrons and employees.  At least for one second, good music entered their world and I swear I saw a toe or two tapping along.  Smiles all around.

In long summer month that just lapsed, I’m not sure if I’ve felt as “summery” as I did that morning in Waynesville.  There’s something about that lively David Byrne stuff that never ceases to lift me out of monotony.  Fanfarlo’s newest release, Reservoir, jerks the exact same vibe right out of me, and my new summer anthems will no doubt be found in the 11 tracks of complexity and tuneful auras.  Byrne’s trademark vocal delivery has been mimicked for years to relatively mediocre results up until Clap Your Hand Say Yeah nailed it in their earth rattling debut effort.  Somewhere in the mix, piles of mirror bands crept up on the scene like hooded ninjas at a garden party.  They’re everywhere these days and very rarely is the vibe recreated in any sort of honest and meaningful way.  In 2004, all I could do was spin CYHSY endlessly, and ultimately, it was my love for David Byrne that served as the catalyst for this.  Not since 2004 have I thoroughly enjoyed this type of sound, and I’m revved to put Fanfarlo squarely into my arsenal.  Unlike the waitresses in Waynesville, Ohio, Fanfarlo is a British act that listens to good music, and while the touches of Byrne and CYHSY are obvious from the start, Reservoir is also a mature stab at instrumentation and a statement that’ll hold water this year.

The album’s opener, “I’m a Pilot” sets time, pace, and stylistic standards with an immediate hybrid of stadium bleacher stomp sounds and controlled, dreamy vocal delivery.  There’s an uplifting aura that reminds us why we like indie music over mainstream regurgitation.  In parts of this track, it’s as if Okkervil River’s Will Sheff teamed up with Byrne to create a mega-track of well-arranged musicianship.  Many tracks include singer Simon Balthazar’s flourishes of classic stylistic nods.  “Drowning Men” is the album’s peak with a crushing synth driven bass line and huge choruses filled with reminders of 80′s Byrne and crew.  The track is emblazoned into listeners’ brains quickly and its string embossed outro is wispy sweet.  What’s important with Fanfarlo, however, is that Reservoir is inexplicably NOT ripping off anything.  It’s immediately admirable and honest.  Nothing’s overdone and the tracks are not hokey with pretension.  They swing for the fences artistically and emotionally with standards that work.  In much the same way, CYHSY or The Arcade Fire were extensions of their predecessors, rather than mimicry.  Likewise, Fanfarlo will immediately grab you as a mature band whose sound will endear itself to you regardless of influences.

All influences aside, Fanfarlo has arranged a beautiful soundscape here that’s incredibly powerful from top to bottom.  Tracks like “Comets” and “The Walls Are Coming Down” infuse all sorts of bells and whistles with instrumentation, from cinematic horn interludes, chiming triangles, orchestral strings, and classical guitars.  The former begins with Gaelic styled guitar work with more breathy and emotionally pining vocals.  A banshee-like singing saw warbles its way into the mix and volume and intensity is progressively raised to huge choruses and hooks big enough to plant an orchard inside.  The latter track is all about the epic horn fills, eerily reminiscent of the more tunefully Irish portions of Neutral Milk Hotel’s Aeroplane.  The Spanish inspired brass arrangement sends Reservoir far ahead of Talking Heads imposters and cookie-cutter Brit pop that’s so prevalent in today’s scene.  Fanfarlo is a breath of fresh air musically, even though there’s very little trickery.

From the subtly edgy guitar work on “Ghosts” to the bright and vivid synthesizer work on “Luna” and “Fire Escape,” Fanfarlo pronounces their talent all over Reservoir.  Underrated percussion elements blitz the background of each track and everything is where it should go.  If you’ve read a lot of my reviews, you’ll know I’m not averse to tried and true standards being rehashed, as long as something unique and talented separates the effort.  Reservoir jumps way outside of this simple premise and is well worth the purchase immediately.  Traveling to the rural underbelly of our state forced me to get the Talking Heads albums back out of my music graveyard.  I’ve even found myself blasting The Stand Ins from Okkervil River a ton this week.  As I keep bouncing back and forth between CYHSY, Byrne, and Sheff, I’ve thrown Fanfarlo into the mix and, in more cases than one, it holds its ground beautifully.  It won’t take long for you to get into the world they’ve created and make it your summer album, too. Unfortunately, we didn’t get this review out in enough time for you to snag the MP3 version of the album from their website (deal lasted until July 4), but on Monday the band will be launching a shop where you can obtain the CD, Vinyl, and all sorts of other goodies.  Enjoy “Luna,” posted below, as well as the video of “Harold T. Wilkins, Or How to Wait for a Very Long Time.”

Snag the album at the band’s website, www.fanfarlo.com starting Monday.  The proper release isn’t until September, so consider yourself in the know.

Fanfarlo – “Luna”