Local Natives w/Superhumanoids: at Marathon Music Works (Nashville, TN) Mon. March 18, 2013

Local Natives w/Superhumanoids

Pop/Rock

Nashville Scene Critic's Pick …

Hummingbird, the sophomore release from California indie rockers Local Natives, retains the complex but dance-friendly rhythms that marked their 2010 debut Gorilla Manor, as well as the big vocal harmonies that earned them justifiable comparisons to Fleet Foxes. A pervasive nervous energy invaded the few empty spaces on GM, but with bassist Andy Hamm’s departure and The National’s Aaron Dessner signing on as producer, the tempos have dropped a notch, and those spaces have become wide and contemplative. That’s not to say the riffs and big choruses don’t still get hearts and fists pumping, but tunes like the pensive “Colombia” make heavy hitters like “Wooly Mammoth” and lead single “Breakers” drive even harder by comparison. Local Natives did me a solid with a nice interpretation of “Warning Sign,” one of my favorite Talking Heads obscurities; tourmates Superhumanoids follow this introspective path to its logical conclusion, vis-à-vis their dreamy, Cocteau Twins-esque cover of The Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated.”

—STEPHEN TRAGESER