The Modern Tribe is the sophomore effort from Baltimore psychedelic art-rock band Celebration. While their 2005 self-titled debut was a raw, visceral affair with gritty tracks like “War” and “New Skin,” the follow-up record shows a more eloquent and refined side to the trio.
The album heavily utilizes the presence of TV on the Radio (David Sitek serves as producer) and Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. In fact, every member of TV on the Radio makes an appearance somewhere on the album. The influence and help of these two bands have considerably shaped the evolving sound of Celebration, whose sound is sort of like a cabaret-infused combination of the two. This makes sense since Celebration have been closely associated with the two bands for years.
The Modern Tribe kicks off with the crystalline opening track “Evergreen,” wherein lead singer Katrina Ford nearly convinces you that gentle purity is her strongest suit as a singer. “At the sundown dance of a forest romance,” she sings, painting a world in which gypsies might be gathering their jewels, making their way through a lush forest in pursuit of the nearest green meadow in which to frolic. “Evergreen” is a beautiful song, though it stands out as an odd direction for Celebration, known for their wild and vigorous live shows. As the final pattering of crystals fades out, the real Celebration emerges on the dark and sexy stomp-rocker “Pressure.” Ford’s angelic beauty slowly cracks away and her inner beast begins to playfully tease you with her inner-punk prowess. The band’s true nature unfolds here as well—organs waft around a funky bass line in a snake charm dance behind the vocals.
One of the strongest tracks on the album is “Heartbreak,” a Celebration-style psychedelic ballad, anchored by another rich Katrina Ford vocal. While comparisons have been made to Karen O (the spastic, soulful howl, no doubt), Ford sometimes comes closer to the leagues of Diamanda Galas. She’s not quite as jarring or urgent, but Ford has a number of moments that demand your attention with her haunting vocals.
Things get most interesting when the band goes balls to the wall, allowing their psych-punk tendencies to flare out in tangents on tracks like “Pony,” “Hands Off My Gold,” and “Fly the Fly.” When Celebration hit their heights, they recall the bone-chilling greatness of Jefferson Airplane. But the fact that these moments don’t come often enough slightly hurts the album as a whole. A couple of tracks on the second half—“Wildcats,” “In This Land”—are true to style, but in the end, aren’t very memorable.
The Modern Tribe shows a band working out their style, at times perfecting it with a near cosmic genius. This will undoubtedly, with time and precision, grow into something golden.
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