New Takka Takka - "The Takers"
We liked the Takkas right out of the gates -- early demo track "We Feel Safer At Night" (still available here) wedded Gabe's Lou Reedy vocal to a Brooklyn-circa-Clap Your Hands feel (at a time when that wasn't pejorative) making them an eminently bloggable band about town. And while we entirely sold on the full length, the group certainly showed of an ability to continue crafting worthy singles on subsequent mini-releases, including the excellently egg nog-buzzed holiday track "Stars And Subway Cars" and the comely callbacks of "Draw A Map." But Brooklyn's indie landscape has shifted over the past two years -- including faraway sounds and pulses -- and given that the band hadn't made its breakthrough, whatever that means these days, Brooklyn's Takka Takka has clearly shifted with it. Migration isn't just a migration. It's Takka Takka post metamorphosis.
There's been some lineup shifting, and sure that's probably at play here, but more fundamentally the band's aiming for new rhythmic structures entirely. It's not to say their native Brooklyn's not still on their mind -- just see the LP's credits: produced by CYHSY's Sean Greenhalgh and featuring that band's Lee Sargent, along with Olga Bell, Charles Burst, and the National's drumkit ace card Bryan Devendorf. And while clearly they're still hearing their neighbors play (if the Clap influence is played down this album, it's only been substituted with a newfound -- and timely -- fondness for the National's stately swagger), they're drawing far outside their zip code, too. Let the Broken Social Scenester element play out in "The Takers," and know that it's a very new look.
DOWNLOAD: Takka Takka - "The Takers" (MP3)
You can sample another, the more National-istic "Silence," at MySpace. Now in fairness we've based all this on just one quick spin through the new album, but the changes are everywhere (e.g. later on the album, "Homebreaker" hits with a Talking Heads thing, "Lion In The Waves" with a "You And Whose Army"-esque progression, parenthetically titled tracks about "optimists" being right/wrong hit with synthy Eno-isms, etc.). And again, just a one spin verdict ... but the shifts and ambition are a welcome turn indeed. Nice one, Takkas.
Migration is out 7/29 via Ernest Jenning.
Takka tour:
06/06 - Williamsburg, Brooklyn @ Monkeytown
06/06 - Williamsburg, Brooklyn @ Monkeytown
06/22 - Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Life (Popped! Music Festival)
07/15 - New York, NY @ Pianos (Record Release Residency)
07/22 - New York, NY @ Pianos
07/25 - Chicago, IL @ Schubas
07/26 - Madison, WI @ The Frequency
07/29 - New York, NY @ Pianos
