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Figurines: When The Deer Wore Blue
Paper Bag

Hooks abound in the thirteen pop treasures comprising When the Deer Wore Blue, Figurines' third full-length and ambitious follow-up to 2005's Skeleton. The Danish quintet may have formed in the mid-‘90s but its heart belongs to the ‘60s, specifically to melodically-charged bands like The Zombies and The Beach Boys. The material suggests a fusion of Smile-era Brian Wilson and Stereolab, and Figurines fervently embraces Wilson 's ‘mini-symphonies' concept.

Harpsichords and a wordless choir lead the charge in “Childhood Verse” before guitarist Christian Hjelm's voice roars in. The multi-layered harmonies that introduce “The Air We Breathe” make the group's allegiance to Wilson 's music crystal clear, the mid-song piano-and-vocals episode even more so. In fact, the song could even be mistaken for a lost track from the Smile sessions were it not for Hjelm's operatic delivery (the Wilson influence also declares itself in “Half Awake, Half Aware” and the lovely banjo-laden coda in “Cheap Place to Spend the Night”). Once the initial shock of Hjelm's shrill, high-pitched singing subsides, one warms to its exuberance and personality. “Let's Head Out” is the kind of jangly guitar pop one could picture the band lip-synching on a ‘60s episode of American Bandstand, while “Hey, Girl” pairs a rock shuffle with roller-coaster vocal melodies.

January 2008