He's the St. Paul neo-folk tunesmith who sings like a girl. They're the impishly young indie-rock band. Jeff Hanson and One for the Team each issued new albums this week on national-level indie labels, so more fans nationwide might get to know them a little better. Here's a look at both records.
Jeff Hanson, "Madam Owl"
It's certainly not right to think of a hand injury as a good thing. But for Hanson, an injury from trying to poke a hole in a dog collar (!) sidelined him for several months but might have led to a stockpile of great songs. "Madam Owl" is the most thoroughly compelling of his albums (all issued on the celebrated Kill Rock Stars label). Once you get past his freakishly falsetto voice -- which, three years since his last album, takes some getting used to again -- it's easy to fade into the album. Hanson has grown beyond but certainly not abandoned his Elliott Smith influence, and the album's liberal use of strings, piano and horns is tastefully done.
Standouts include the banjo-tinged, Iron & Wine-like "If I Only Knew" and the stirringly serene opener, "Night," in which Hanson spikes a lost stroll through a city/relationship with the line, "Careful now, the bridge is out." And the dramatic "I Don't Quite Remember" sounds like Morrissey and Jens Lekman slow-dancing with a chamber orchestra.
One For The Team, "Built It Up"
Ian Anderson jumped at the chance to sign his earnest, noisemaking band to Southern California-based indie imprint Militia Group. At the same time, he upped the hi-fi quality for OFTT's second album. In a word, this record sounds BIG. The guitars are big. The choruses are big. And the vocals are enormous.
The improvement over the first record, however, is modest at best. Anderson and Co. hit the ground running with their 2006 debut, "Good Boys Don't Make Noise," which overflowed with electric guitar and smart, Death Cab-ian songwriting. That's all on this record, and so is a lot more. Bill Caperton brings a lot more fuzz and Britpoppy melody to the guitar work. Keyboardist Grace Fidler plays a pivotal role this time, helping turn exuberant gems like "Dress Up Party" and the single "Best Supporting Actor" into charming boy/girl pop of the Imperial Teen vein.
No fault of Fidler's, but the vocals are simply too much. In general, the singing on "Built It Up" was built too far up, almost to Def Leppard proportions in songs like "Hey Kid." Let the guitars do more of the singing next time, kids.
