With the success of bands like
Health and
No Age, the pressure was really on for fellow Los Angeles noise punks
Abe Vigoda to carry the torch lit at the Smell. On
Skeleton, their third album overall and first for
Dean Spunt's (
No Age) PPM label, the band steps it up accordingly, and offers listeners a compelling cross section of what's currently happening in the indie underground. They share
No Age's penchant for noisy dissonance (as heard on the instrumental "Whatever Forever" and "Visi Rings") and
Health's clattering, frenetic drumming style, but on the majority of the record,
Abe Vigoda's newfound interest in tropical and world music takes the forefront, their reverbed guitars even going so far as to mimic the sound of steel drums. The vocals find a common ground between the chants of
Liars ("The Garden") and the harmonies of bands like
Animal Collective ("Animal Ghosts") and
Dirty Projectors ("Lantern Lights"), and the quartet shares the experimental and playful spirit of those groups -- as well as Brooklyn's
High Places, whose faux steel drum pings
Abe Vigoda's recall. But while the individual sounds on the album might be traceable to their contemporaries,
Abe Vigoda manage to combine them to make a tribal-tropical art-punk sound that is wholly their own.
Skeleton is one of the more interesting releases of the summer, and proves that
Abe Vigoda are more than worthy of joining their peers in the spotlight.