Local Natives
Gorilla Manor
Release Date: Feb 16, 2010
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Record label: French Kiss
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Album Review: Gorilla Manor by Local Natives
Great, Based on 11 Critics
Based on rating 8.4/10
Gorilla Manor, the debut album from L.A.'s Local Natives, features rustic and yearning vocals, three-part harmonies, clattering percussion, wiggly guitar leads, euphoric chanting, and a Talking Heads cover. In short, the Silver Lake quintet have followed indie rock's major players in recent years-- they knew how to dress for success in 2010. Great for them-- now, what's in it for you? Plenty as it turns out.
Based on rating 8/10
Californian five-piece Local Natives count themselves lucky; lucky that they were able to play at this year’s South By Southwest festival, lucky that “some dude” happened upon the bike shop they were playing in, lucky that he liked them enough to stay for their set and lucky that this “dude” turned out to work for the NME. Luck is a subjective concept though. There are, for starters, the obligatory comparisons and copy-cat claims.
Based on rating 8.0/10
On their debut, Gorilla Manor, Local Natives wisely sidestep the world-music-meets-indie-rock trends that have made their live shows such sweaty and cathartic experiences (even if they're verging toward overcooked within the larger world of indie rock ‘n' pop). It is decidedly not positioned as a rock ‘n' roll, indie, world music, pop, soul, or Afro-pop record. Instead, it folds each of these genres into a layered and singular collage of those sounds, one that highlights the Los Angeles five-piece’s ability to craft moody, grandeur-laden and vocally charged atmospherics that hover above a devilishly sinuous and rhythmic instrumental bedrock.
Based on rating 8/10
Local Natives have a pulsing heartbeat and a passion that spills out... For the time being, harmonised vocals paired with acoustic guitar strums will evoke comparisons with Fleet Foxes. Local Natives are certainly cut from a similar cloth to their fellow Americans – after all, they claim to devote more time to crafting their vocals than the music that backs them up.
Based on rating 7.4/10
L.A. band’s full-length debut bridges coasts In recent years, West Coast rock has become hazier (No Age), noisier (HEALTH) and woodsier (Fleet Foxes) compared to the East Coast’s more melodic (Grizzly Bear), cosmopolitan (Dirty Projectors) and experimental (Animal Collective) style. And with their much-anticipated full-length debut, former SXSW darlings Local Natives unify the camps, bridging Brooklyn’s tumbling tribal rhythms, rousing choruses and sophisticated pop arrangements with the CSNY harmonies, guitar eruptions and straightforward hooks of their Left Coast neighbors.
Based on rating 7/10
The US release of Gorilla Manor, the debut LP from the LA quintet Local Natives, has been a long time coming. The album itself was recorded over a year ago and the band spent much of 2009 building word-of-mouth buzz and working to secure a record deal the old-fashioned way: by being a stellar live band. Rough Trade actually released Gorilla Manor in the UK three months ago, which has allowed the album to circulate widely via imports and pirating.
Based on rating 3/5
There's no escaping the scent of foxes that permeates Local Natives' first album, specifically Fleet Foxes. This LA quintet share the same open-throated harmonies and air of wide-eyed wonderment. The guitars tend to the electric, percussion is more prominent as an instrument of propulsion, and there's a tad more muscularity to the arrangements, exemplified by a tendency to go into half-shouted, half-chanted breakdowns – but the unsuspecting could be forgiven for thinking they are hearing demos for the Foxes' second record.
Based on rating 3/5
Like that hot guy who works in the wood shop around the corner, Local Natives’ debut LP Gorilla Manor is most attractive at its messiest. Replete with sweet piano, duetting guitars, and insistent drumming, the California quintet paints a mostly pretty picture. But it’s when they veer away from pretty that things get adorably hairy. Loud leadoff “Wide Eyes,” therefore, deceives a little.
Opinion: Fantastic
There's something in the floating harmonies of this incredible young L.A. band that will stop you in your tracks. Not as rustic as Band of Horses, Local Natives can't be contained in the rubric of jam-happy beard bands. Simultaneously bristling with paranoia and basking in sunshine, the band's Pixies-like approach to the Talking Heads' "Warning Sign" points to an entirely different set of musical aspirations.
Opinion: Excellent
SXSW buzz band’s debut album exudes a cheery effervescence. Mike Diver 2009 Silver Lake five-piece Local Natives deliver their debut album after enjoying a decent degree of media coverage, especially throughout the blog world, much of which has concluded that the band could well follow in Fleet Foxes’ footsteps and take their brand of Americana-flecked indie-rock into the mainstream. Much of the attention to come the band’s way has been generated by favourable reviews of their sets at this year’s South By Southwest conference, held in Austin, Texas back in March.
Opinion: Excellent
Gorilla Manor is the debut album for L.A. based Local Natives. They have been gaining momentum since their album released in February and don’t seem like they will be slowing down anytime soon. They have reached # 3 on the New Artist Chart section of the Billboard 200. Gorilla Manor consists of ….