Artist: Zapruder Point

Artist: Zapruder Point

Links: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zapruder-Point/365328556980817

http://zapruderpoint.bandcamp.com/

Although there are vocal similarities, the progression from REO Speedwagon to fun. to Zapruder Point, has been marked by an evolution towards dignity – that is, away from the cheese that overfilled its birthing suite. Indeed, with song lengths (short) and titles (charming) recalling Sufjan Stevens, not to mention a melodic reference to “Tiny Dancer”-vintage Elton John (Get On With It), Zapruder Point's Clicks & Whistles is a remarkable assemblage paced by acoustic guitar and memorable for its compelling harmonies (e.g. The Creak of the Landline).

Nearly every song includes a hook-worthy turn of phrase: “I keep ‘em drawn all summer long” (The Spokesperson for Winter), “People aren't pixels” (Bury the Lead), “Mapping out the sound of letting you down” (Cannon (College)), “But it's not a reason to stay” (Come for the People, Stay for the Buildings), “This has to stop” (This Has to Stop), “Get on with it” (Get On With It).

But lyrically, it is “The Disgraced Politician's Former Mistress Tells All” that reaches the potential hinted at by these hooks. The song is poetic primarily because it doesn't have to be: It's poetry in its conception. Specifically, the track offers a subtle slice of life from a relatively under-explored point of view: that of a politician's former mistress. After establishing the logistical arrangement (“They were always nice places / It was never by the hour / a half-dozen Sheratons / a handful of Trump Towers / ... so he’d order up a bottle / while I hopped in the shower”), Zapruder Point achieves poignancy by finding parallels in the most divergent of circumstances, “If I stood towards the back / they’d let me hear him speak / His promises would echo so / my heart would skip a beat / I preferred his anecdotes / from growing up in the south / and getting out.”

In Clicks & Whistles, we also find instrumental flourish – i.e. This Has to Stop's personality-laden guitar solo (esp. 1:33) and Do You See the Rifles' song-defining sounds/strings (at 1:07) – as well as samples adding texture, e.g. Exterior House's mash-up of “I'm not here to make friends” reality show clips. These combine perfectly on album-opener Cannon (College), which has fuzzy radio underpinnings giving way to noisy but melodic guitar-wash (at :58).

Simply put, Zapruder Point are an engaging lot. Their considerable talent and dynamic song-writing make them the natural successor to Frightened Rabbit.

*** The author of this review, Curtis McDonald, plays the tambor huacana for the following band: http://youtu.be/tMS73-1kCr8