In the wake
of Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest
, plenty of
indie bands have tried to recreate that album’s fussy beauty. Some of these
albums have been wonderful (Owen Pallett’s
Heartland
is just darling), but this style can often feel
rigid and dispassionate. There’s a whole other pleasure to be had in a loose,
freewheeling session of like-minded musicians, and it’s this kind of thrill
that leaps from every bar of the debut album from Antipodean collective BARB.

The talents
at play in BARB represent some of the finest young musicians New Zealand and
Australia have to offer. Connan Mockasin (not his real name) and drummer Seamus
Ebbs come from NZ psych-rockers Connan and the Mockasins, with solo artist
Lawrence Arabia (known to his Mum as James Milne) adding a Beatles-ish pop feel
to proceedings.

The big names
in this crew, though, are Liam Finn and EJ Barnes, the progeny of Crowded
House’s Neil Finn and Jimmy Barnes respectively. Liam in particular has high
expectations on him, due both to his lineage and his underrated debut record, I’ll
Be Lightning
. Recorded at Neil’s Roundhead
Studios,
Lightning
showed a young
man with his father’s knack for elegant melodic pop, but it downplayed the
wilder side of Liam so often displayed in his live shows.

BARB
, recorded in the same studio, goes some way to
balancing that. In spirit, there’s less Crowded House and more free-flowing
indie rock like Broken Social Scene. Like the latter, the album is
stylistically diverse, skipping from the giddy pop of opener
"Leo"
to the early Animal Collective chant-and-percussion
of "Not a Bird". The diversity
reflects the many talented performers in the mix, achieving a healthy
democratic air without being tokenistic.

Of course,
given that all the material on the album was written and recorded within a
month, it doesn’t really come as a surprise that there are some
less-than-memorable moments spread across the back half of the album.
Everything is carried off with such enthusiasm, though, that BARB
is endearing even when it’s not especially memorable.
Seamus Ebb’s drumming in particular is lively and invigorating, keeping up the
energy when things go adrift (as they do on the aimless "Beatman"). And even then, there’s the sweet little "Counting
Sheep" to look forward to.

BARB
isn’t going to set the world on fire, but it’s
certainly a pleasant change to see musicians having so much fun in the act of
creating. Here’s hoping it’s the first in a series of records – there might be a

You Forgot It In People
in the air,
with all this talent on hand!

Review Score: 7.5/10