Album Review: Too Beautiful to Work by The Luyas

Whatever else can be said about Too Beautiful to Work, it's clearly a demonstration that the trend toward mini-pocket orchestras and detailed arrangements in whatever indie rock is supposed to be sometimes can turn out mesmerizing results. Instead of the far too typical drama production singalongs, the Luyas are somewhere else again -- maybe a blend of whatever space age pop became codified as in the wake of Stereolab and cocktails with their own ear for what a hook can be. (That Owen Pallett contributes to the arrangements seems only apt, given a similar drive toward the lush without being simply interested in re-creating the past too perfectly.

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There's a pretty good chance that you didn't hear the Luyas' 2007 debut, Faker Death, when it came out-- and, in a way, that's a blessing for the Canadian quartet. It's a short, slight LP, with slack ambition and a slightly crunchy indie rock feel that sounds situated in the early 2000s. For the Luyas' second LP and Dead Oceans debut, Too Beautiful to Work, the band-- which carries distinct Northern cache thanks to the involvement of Bell Orchestre members Pietro Amato and Stefan Schneider-- enlisted a few notable names in the process: specifically, Owen Pallett, Arcade Fire's Sarah Neufeld, and sound-mangling saxophonist Colin Stetson.

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