Animal Kingdom - Signs and wonders

Year: 2009
Genre: indie / pop
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/weareanimalkingdom
Format: mp3
Bitrate: V2 [~192]
Filesize: 65 MB
Uploaded: 31-10-2009
Hosted by: uploaded.to / mediafire

Track listing:
01. Good morning Mr. Magpie 2:36
02. Signs and wonders 3:46
03. Tin man 4:19
04. Silence summons you 3:23
05. Into the sea 4:44
06. Two by two 3:53
07. Home 3:18
08. Walls of Jericho 3:24
09. Mephistopheles 3:54
10. Yes sir, yes sir 3:55
11. Dollar signs 3:55
12. Chalk stars 6:23




Review:
As an aspiring band, to be compared to the likes of Coldplay, Radiohead and Snow Patrol, can almost be a bit of poisoned chalice whereby you can be assured to expect one of two things; either be critically dubbed as a cheap imitation or worse yet banished to the proverbial musical wilderness as nothing more than a whisper in the wind. However, ever so rarely a band will come along and be elevated by such comparisons, thus spurring them on to equal or greater heights. Fortunately, for this South London quartet, I’m predicting the latter. With some assured assistance from producer Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses), the dark and melancholy ' Signs and Wonders' is every bit the debut proposition you might hope for it to be.
The stand out song not surprisingly, will most probably be considered as debut single 'Chalk Stars'. Although I’m not sure I’d agree it was a true anthemic ballad, you can't deny its brilliance. Ranging from ‘Good Morning Mr. Magpie, which could have just as easily found itself on an early Coldplay album to the love bereft otherworldly atmospherics of 'Tin Man'; ‘Sings and Wonders’ is delicate, cinematic, celestial indie-pop. Even when you're listening to some of the album's lesser tracks like 'Two by Two', 'Walls of Jericho' and 'Mephistopheles'; their music never seems to lose itself; as whether in the context of the album or on their own; they still provide uniquely emotive propositions. What’s more, despite their music's melancholic nature, ‘Signs and Wonders’ actually possess a deep rooted sense of positivity within it.
Central to the bands sound is ultimately, the vocals of front man Richard Sauberlich; his delicate and airy tones add a real quirky texture to their music, which is further enhanced when heard against the backdrop of the rest of the band's darkened atmospherics. Countering immediate pop hooks with unpredictable arrangements of dark, reflective soul; Animal Kingdom instantly, set themselves out to be a promising position.

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