Bent Shapes // Wolves of Want

Bent Shapes

Wolves of Want

Slumberland Records 

4/5 stars

Some great albums arrived this month! There was the acidic garage rock of CFM. Little Green Cars' Ephemera had a gorgeous indie folk presence. Koi Child's self-titled debut (produced by Tame Impala's Kevin Parker), was an astounding blend of jazz and hip-hop. Damien Jurado put out a great 12th studio album. UK's The Bonnevilles cooked up some pitch perfect garage-blues with Arrow Pierce My Heart. One album that grabbed me immediately, though, was Wolves of Want by Bent Shapes. Jangly guitar hooks chime in instantly. The treble-heavy twee of the Boston quartet is infectious. Fans of Ted Leo and Jonathan Richman will quickly find footing. A few songs in, however, you really start to notice the lyrics. At first the album just seems to be peppered with metered wordplay and a few clever allusions. It inches closer and closer to being too recondite for its own good. Singer Ben Potrykus is "testing the limits of language to see how long you last." His narration acquiesces enough affable self-awareness to still garner a winking sympathy, through devices like the mise en abyme of "USA vs Por." See, I told you it was infectious. – Nick Warren