Yeasayer Erotic Reruns

In a return to their earliest days as a band, Yeasayer's fifth album, Erotic Reruns, was written and produced by the core trio of Chris Keating, Ira Wolf Tuton, and Anand Wilder. It was even recorded in their respective home studios (along with a few guests and engineer Daniel Neiman). Streamlining arrangements and song structures more so than in the past, the album's pop-leaning blend of dance-funk and the softer side of classic album rock is their most accessible yet. The former hits its stride early in the track list with the infectious "Ecstatic Baby." While the song has quirky touches, like textured percussion and lilting keyboard accents, it draws sharp focus to melody and groove. Mostly consisting of likewise jubilant, dance-friendly love songs, they evoke the singer/songwriter album rock of the '70s with what sounds on the surface like more of the same on "Let Me Listen in on You." Though its anxious, mechanical opening eventually picks up warmer guitar and string voices and a honeyed chorus, a closer listen reveals that the wooer represents invasive technology ("Do you need a translator to get you through your day?"). Later, "24-Hour Hateful Live!" turns to the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election and names names ("ICE to ISIS/migrant crisis."). That track opens with unstructured saxophone, guitar, synths, bass, and drum kit, each repeating short phrases for an ambient jazz-pop until it locks into an assertive groove with more impassioned vocals. Erotic Reruns comes back to objects of affection for the final track, "Fluttering in the Floodlights," a slinky, '80s-styled R&B dance-pop that's parts Prince and Level 42. It's a fitting end to what is essentially a feel-good dance-rock album, even if it refuses to tune out of reality. ~ Marcy Donelson