Goon Sax, The - We're Not Talking [CD]

We're Not Talking is the second album from The Goon Sax and their first release on Wichita Recordings (Ride, Los Campesinos!, Froth). The album was recorded with James Cecil and Cameron Bird, respectively former/current members of Architecture In Helsinki. It demonstrates the bands progress as songwriters since their debut, taking the enthusiasms of youth and twisting them into darker, more sophisticated shapes. Strings, horns, even castanets sneak their way onto the album, but We're Not Talking isn't glossy throwaway pop. Sounds stick out at surprising angles, cow-bells become lead instruments and brief home-recorded fragments appear unexpectedly. This is a record made by restless artists, defying expectations as if hardly noticing, and its complexity makes We're Not Talking even more of a marvel.