Album Review: Yeasayer – Erotic Reruns

Yeasayer return with nine playful tunes that mix up psychedelic-pop and indie-dance for maximum feelgood kicks. Erotic Reruns doesn’t get as saucy as the title suggests but this album finds Yeasayer sounding very focused on producing polished pop grooves designed to win a horde of new fans. Stripped back to a basic three-piece, comprised of Chris Keating, Anand Wilder and Ira Wolf Tuton, Yeasayer come on sounding like they are ready to dance the night away. While the beats are thick and insistent, Yeasayer craft pop songs that deal in bittersweet romance and politics. 

Yeasayer always felt like a glossy take on MGMT in their more accessible moments and this album is no exception. They strike the right balance between musical experimentation and a heap of quirky hooks to reel us in. Like so much great pop music, the jump and jive of this album defies dissection. Yeasayer aggressively push out uplifting vibes across the album; getting lost in the grand intricacies of their arrangements and thinking too much about what’s being presented would mean missing out on the joyous bounce of these Erotic Reruns. As they sing Blue Skies Dandelions, all we are asked to do is shake the blues and focus on feeling groovy. While there’s a certain innocence to this suggestion the sentiment echoes across the album and more particularly on songs like People I Loved and I’ll Kiss You Tonight.