Yeti Lane - Yeti Lane
The tail end of the noughties and the beginning of the tenners (I made this up just now, has there been a correct name for the next ten years announced yet?) have seen a massive popularity rise for the indie-rock contingent of America. Also described as ‘rock’ with the additional prefixes of ‘art’ or ‘noise’ or even ‘shoegaze’, bands like Deerhunter, Yeasayer and Animal Collective have, after years of meagre underground success, suddenly appeared in the mainstream. If evidence be needed of this Animal Collective’s nomination for best international album at the Brits is surely it.
Yeti Lane fall neatly into this category, but unusually, aren’t actually from America at all. This three piece actually hail from France, but for the music that they have put to record here the success of their American counter-parts is essential. Falling neatly into a gap between the aforementioned Deerhunter and Animal Collective, Yeti Lane’s music is a dreamlike wispy affair but with melodies that wrap you and give you a nice warm hug.
Opener ‘First-Rate Pretender’ delicately rains down around the listener's ears with lead singer Ben Pleng’s hushed vocals lulling in a mood of a sleepy beach calm. They create the kind of other-worldliness that Deerhunter coined, but at the same time incorporating basic indie-rock formula.
The album reaches its peak though with ‘Tiny Correction’, which has a relaxing mariachi flavour and smacks slightly of Yeasayer’s latest album. Although the album can trail off slightly in places, what Yeti Lane have produced here is a collection of songs that fall neatly into the art/noise/shoegaze rock bracket but that also hooks listeners hearts and minds with an ease and lack of pretension that other bands from this ilk can be found guilty of.