After a wonderfully understated debut, Au seem to be straining to get attention with Verbs. As your parents probably told you at least once, there's good attention and bad attention. Following that line of reasoning, tunes like "All My Friends" catch my ear for many reasons, some of them positive, some of them quite negative. It's as if Verbs is either waving frantically for your attention or neglecting to even wag a finger, and I just don't see the necessity behind packing choir-, Polyphonic Spree-esque chants into just about every song -- though, in small doses, the strategy adds a lovely spin to an already-whirling spectrum of sound.
And so it goes, Verbs alternately treading/shredding water depending on which groove the needle hits. A lot of the festivities are fueled by elements familiar to any furry Animal Collective fan, especially the Here Comes the Indian crescendos that dot Au's audio landscape, not to mention the Sung Tongs-y drones populating tracks like "Prelude." It all lumps together to form a relatively hit-or-miss, all-or-nothing affair. "Two Seasons" is one of the genuine thrills, an evenly distributed indie-ballad content to share its lovely melody with us, as guitars tinkle and twinkle behind it. "RR vs D" and "All Myself" also lure the listener into Au land, their zig-zagging moods and ’tudes bolstering Verbs' intimidating middle section.
The outer regions, however, will leave you asking "Where's the beef?" "Summerheat" produces very little until four minutes have passed, and even then the bliss only last around 30 seconds. Ham-handed, trendy tunes like "The Waltz" only further underscore the need for more depth. In fact, if you asked me what sort of temperament Verbs had, I'd definitely mention that, regardless of the song, it is afraid of commitment, afraid to truly give the listener what they want. That's a pretty important flaw.
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