Any review of a Librarians release is going to have to start with something like "These guys are from West Virginia?" With an indie disco flavor that is very palatable, Alright Easy Candy Stranger sounds as sweet as the treat its title refers to. And most urbanites who think banjos and Deliverance (or, at best, All Good Festival and WVU) when they hear Morgantown will be able to enjoy this accessible gumdrop of a debut full-length.
Synthed-out post-punk dance revival lead-off track "Culture Vulture" has a vocal intensity (something like a caffeine-injected Interpol) that would do Librarians better to carry on the whole album through, and the clapping percussion rounds out a funky tune that has to get these guys some play on WVU's campus station. "Secret Sugar Lip" changes the focus to guitars and garage sound, yet retains the album's shared trait of danceability. Continuing the rock-out sound is "Wax Teeth" with a punk rock bridge that'll make the dancing scenesters want to pogo.
The highlights of the album are "Spend All The Cash" with its multiple vocal parts and simple yet effective guitar hook, as well as "Come On White Girl" and its indie pop chorus "Alright, it's easy. Like taking candy from a stranger," from which the album's title is derived.
It needs to be out there: the indie disco sound and the drab brit-pop vocal tone are not quite timeless, and are in danger of falling out of vogue in the popular arena. Fortunately for Librarians, however, they also incorporate the post-punk guitar and drums of Franz Ferdinand with tongue-in-cheek lyrics and sarcasm that hits the mark. A continued grasp on dance-influenced garage and punk sound will keep Librarians in the pages of the magazines, rather than filing them in the stacks like their namesakes.
Rating: 3 out of 5.
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