Takka Takka Takes Us In

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 24, 2008 9:33PM

Takka Takka's new album Migration features guest performances by members of The National and Clap Your hands Say Yeah, is produced by Sean Greenhalgh of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah,and it was recorded in Brooklyn. Those three facts alone would be enough for a reactionary critic to torpedo the band under the assumption that the result would be so infused with smug inidieness as to make it near unlistenable for anyone not wearing a string headband.

Of course anyone that took that sort of shortsighted and uninformed view would be missing out on one the finer and more nuanced records we've heard this summer. It's open with gently plinking and beautifully spare loops of sound that wins you over with their simplicity. The gentle vocal that rises above this rhythmic bed meld into the structure of the song. The album begins to slowly pick up steam as it progresses, adopting busier arrangement and peppier drums, but the focus is always on looking for the perfect mesh of playful melodies with just the right amount of left-field artifice to create indie rock that truly pops. It's hard to describe how the band does this while always maintaining its mannered delivery, but Takka Takka creates their gently shifting compositions with the seeming objective of lulling the listener under their spell. If that is indeed their intent, then they wholly succeed with Migration.

Takka Takka plays Schubas, 3159 N Southport, tomorrow, July 25, 10 p.m., $12, 21+

It should also be noted that this show also marks the debut of Grammar, headed by Brent Pulse and featuring Chicagoista Lizz Kannenberg.