Tapes 'n Tapes - Walk It Off

A critically acclaimed debut is a notoriously difficult thing to follow, but with Walk It Off Tapes 'n Tapes appear to have had no such trouble. This album sees the Minnesotan foursome develop their take on indie-rock by adding a greater depth via production, and a greater well of ideas from which to draw from. The results are exceptional. The relentless drum roll of The Dirty Dirty is like an aural equivalent to a Hitchcock thriller, with Grier constantly questioning: "Where did all the money go?" Current single Hang Them All, meanwhile, with its scratchy, incessant guitar crunch and fairground organ affirms their grasp of what makes a cracking indie rock single. Blunt, meanwhile, puts them in Black Keys territory, complete with jerky guitar lines and muffled vocals. Tapes 'n Tapes have come a long way since The Loon, but they've done so without abandoning any of the elements that made them so good in the first place. Brilliant. [Neal Parsons]