The Polyphonic Spree are known for being a rather large (ranging from 13-27 members) and revolving band of musicians who don robes and create symphonic rock music who's members play everything but the kitchen sink. Headed by former Tripping Daisy frontman Tim DeLaughter, on their third album The Fragile Army, the band trades in the signature robes for black military styled outfits. Does this signal the end of their 60s sun drenched style of pop? That would be a negatory, good buddy! While their happy go lucky sound that's bigger than life is still there, they do tend to walk around the darkside for a little bit on this album, showing off DeLaughter's smart composition abilities for a band the size of a small army, A Fragile Army, if you will!
From the first song, Section 22 (Running Away), the groups sunny style of love and light conquering all is there in all the right places, while Section 23 (Get Up and Go) digs into deeper territory as this fast paced song has darker elements and is one of their most interestingly composed songs I have heard from The Spree due to having a strong guitar element, making this song rock harder than other Spree songs. Section 25 (Younger Yesterday) comes across as a mini-opera with the themes of war and peace, not so much Leo Tolstoy but more Herb Alpert and Mercury Rev. Many of the songs, filled with orchestration, make the album sound more refined than previous efforts, touching on many topics going on in the world and within us all. As most artists nowadays dedicate full albums to statements on the American regime, it's nice to see a positive album like The Fragile Army not just rail on what's wrong with the Man and the System, but what's right within us, making this a fun and uplifting listen. |