Just in time for summer’s porch nights and lightning bugs, Voxtrot provides the fittingly innocent coos of their self-titled debut. Hailing from the musical haven of Austin, Texas (home to the ballooning South by Southwest Festival), the five-piece band outlines its three-EP follow-up with a mini-documentary (available on the Web site) and 11 shiny new tracks, each suitable to please any poofy 1960s prom queen.
Every neatly packed tune is wrapped so snugly in the sweetly expressive vocals of Ramesh Srivastava – over soft, paced guitar, percussion and assorted strings – that by the end, Voxtrot is one big, bulging indie-pop gift. From opener “”Introduction,”” the band fabricates a faint and elegant world, fading in layered instruments that give way to crystal clear bittersweetness like, “”And you love me just like a stranger/ And you love me just like I am.”” But with nary a moment for grievance, “”Kid Gloves”” livens the step with quick guitar strokes, “”Stephen”” spins the theatrics of a Freddie Mercury-worthy spectacle – with spoken word and abundant piano chords – and the drawing chorus of “”Firecracker”” is underscored with a foot-stomping dance-floor rhythm.
Final track and single “”Blood Red Blood”” ends on a strong note, building with insecure outbursts and a steady rise of static intensity. Focusing less on the proceeding Belle and Sebastian-esque murmurs and more on the elements of rock, unkempt horn squawks break the instrumental cookie-cutter and an emotional chant explosion – “”Got to lift your face to the breaking day/ It’ll eat you up, blood red blood”” – proves this season is more than sunshine and rainbows.