Argyle Heir

Ladybug Transistor | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 22, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Merge Records
• ASIN: B00005B7IC
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #365,926 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

At first listen, the Ladybug Transistor resemble the better-crafted Britpop groups of the 1980s. Gary Olson's deep, carefully enunciated vocals bring to mind Echo & the Bunnymen and Lowlife-era New Order, especially on "Echoes" and "Wooden Bars," tracks from Argyle Heir, the Ladybug Transistor's fourth release. But a closer focus unveils a deeper surprise--gentle hook-laden pop songs augmented by perfectly placed layers of woodwinds and brass. "Nico Norte" could easily be an updated outtake from the Mamas and the Papas' Deliver album, while "Brighton Bound" features harmonies that would make a barbershop quartet proud. Only the faux-renaissance "Catherine Elizabeth" seems out of place, but even that delicate tapestry of a tune works on repeated listens. Argyle Heir? The Ladybug Transistor? What do they mean? It doesn't really matter. The Brooklyn-based sextet, Anglophiles every one, have cornered the market on breezy, well-orchestrated arrangements. Fans of melodic and meticulously arranged pop suites--à la the Elephant Six style of indie rock--will embrace this latest addition to the genre. --Andria Lisle

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Do you like scones?, March 27, 2003

By 

Greg Cleary (Marquette, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Argyle Heir (Audio CD)

"Argyle Heir" does not offer nearly as many pop hooks as its predecessor, "The Albemarle Sound," but it is still a fine album by almost any standard. Here's the way I think of it: If "The Albemarle Sound" is a sweet roll, "Argyle Heir" is more like a scone or an English muffin. I should mention that I like sweet rolls (and their musical equivalents) better than scones or English muffins. However, that does not mean that I would like to eat a sweet roll for breakfast every single morning.

The only truly great pop song on "Argyle Heir" is "Perfect for Shattering"--an incredibly catchy yet evocative song along the lines of the previous album's "Meadowport Arch," but with a steadier backbeat.

There are plenty of subtler pleasures awaiting the patient listener, however. "Echoes" is a dreamy tune that utilizes a bent guitar note in the chorus, just before Gary Olson sings, "The fields are perfectly sown." It's a quintessential Ladybug moment. This is a band that often sees beauty in the way that humans alter the landscape--a rare sentiment in modern music. They sing not of forests, but of gardens and beautiful old houses.

Other standout tracks are "Wooden Bars" (I am intrigued yet ultimately mystified by this notion of "counting the feathers on every bird," which is mentioned in this song and one other) and "The Reclusive Hero." The latter is built around a herky-jerky riff that is played on some sort of keyboard instrument, maybe an electric piano, with violin and flute adding countermelodies.

It is the arrangements, after all, that make "Argyle Heir" hold up so well to repeated listens. The musicianship of this band (as well as the related bands The Essex Green and the Sixth Great Lake) is well above the level we expect from indie rockers.

There is nothing punk rock or revolutionary about the Ladybug Transistor. Their sound is unapologetically retro, and any good Marxist would hate the lyrics, which seem to allude mostly to either wealthy people or childhood memories (or, perhaps, childhood memories of wealthy people). But, in their own way, the band does remind us of the freedom that exists in our minds, and of our capacity to appreciate beauty where we find it. And that's good enough for me.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This just keeps getting better..., May 24, 2001

By 

John C. Hornbostel "triggercut" (Northern VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Argyle Heir (Audio CD)

Fourth record in, and the LT just keeps getting better. I though BEVERLY ATONALE was okay; ALBEMARLE SOUND had five or six absolutely great songs, and made my personal top 25 of 1999. ARGYLE just continues to build on the foundations laid with the previous release. It shows the band to have so utterly absorbed their influences in the intervening years that they no longer can be dismissed as hollowed-out ironic retro-pop imitators, but rather iconoclastic, truly original composers of their own right.

First off, if you have two working ears, you'd never in a gadjillion years compare ARGYLE HEIR to anything in the Echo and the Bunnymen catalog...(still don't get that reference in the Amazon.com review, but whatever). This is clearly influenced by SMILE-era Beach Boys, with dollops of Left Banke, Zombies, Bacharach/David, and even some Byrdsian Cali-western moves. For those frightened by Scott Walker imitation rumors, Gary Olson happily drops any trace of basso profundo after the first track, settling into a much more comfortable, easygoing boyish delivery after that.

The songwriting is well done and original, although you'll hear echoes of tunes like "Sloop John B", "Downtown", and "Pretty Ballerina" peppered throughout. The LT is smart enough to not stick with an appropriated riff too long before twisting the whole thing around and heading for a completely different melody line. My favorite thing about the songs are the plentiful music passages that just seem to appear out of leftfield and smack you upside the head with their lovely, winsome beauty.

What an interesting disc to listen to, as well! Harpsichords, strings, mellotrons, trumpets, etc. are used tastefully throughout to add to a sonic whole that is quite simply charming. This is a fun record to listen to, and rewards repeat and attentive listens. The best retro-sounding pop album I've heard since the Olivia Tremor Control debut.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sail The Argyle Heir Sound!, May 25, 2001

By 

Jarrod San Angel (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Argyle Heir (Audio CD)

Let me begin by saying - with much saddness - that I had a great deal of trouble locating this release at local indie-record shops(in Los Angeles, mind you!). Not even the big guys like Virgin Megastore or Tower seemed to have it.. moreover, when I mentioned the name "Ladybug Transistor" to store clerks, they looked at me with crossed eyes and very furrowed brows. "Who??" was the common response. This is a small tragedy, really, because Ladybug Transistor are one of America's finest folk-pop ensembles of the past decade. While mainstream culture touts and trumpets the glory of faddish acts like N*Sync and Britney, wonderful artists like Ladybug Transistor get brushed aside, or worse, go totally unknown for years. That said, I am convinced that the perfect pop craftsmanship of their unforgettable songs will lift them from general obscurity, for music this great can go unnoticed for only so long. Their last release - the fantastic & inspired "Albemarle Sound" - showcased a growing maturity and depth to their music that precious few modern bands can ever hope to match, rival, or surpass. Songs like "Oceans In the Hall," "Six Times," "Meadowport Arch," "Today Knows," and "The Swimmer" displayed a dazzling use of melody, harmony, texture, and indeed, veritable pop genius. That set Ladybug Transistor upon a pop pedestal - and as such, I had high hopes for this record. The opener, "Fires On The Ocean," is a jangly guitar lover's treat, and it quickly recaptures the magic that was seemingly so easily wielded and crafted on previous records. "Echoes" is another classic ladybug moment. Great guitar work, great hooks, and of course, the always fabulously warm vocals of Gary Olson. "Wooden Bars" finds the Ladybugs reaching dizzying heights of pop grandeur, and the single "Brighton Bound" reminds us that this is also a band worthy of hits (indie hits, anyway). While "Argyle Heir" isn't the perfect pop follow-up to "Albemarle" that I was secretly hoping for, it is a step in the right direction, and shows definite progress and growth within the band. What I've noticed is that you've got to pay attention to the details - the string flourishes in "Catherine Elizabeth," the Bacharach horn and new-wave groove in "Wooden Bars," San's interesting drum patterns, the classic guitar line in "Brighton Bound," and naturally, Master Olson's intriguing lyrics. Then again, this is an album of amazingly precise and brilliant details, so they're hard to miss! I look forward to the next masterpiece..