A veritable army of outstanding songs (Fragile Army - Polyphonic Spree)

Member Name: Wezzo

Product:	Fragile Army - Polyphonic Spree
Date:	25/07/07 (53 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Generally wonderful songs; most varied melodies yet; bonus DVD with the Limited Edition set

Disadvantages: Couple of weaker tracks

So, The Polyphonic Spree return for their third full-length outing. Covering "Sections" 21 to 32 in their numbered series (their first two albums covered Sections 1-10 and 11-20 respectively), we are finally exposed to the fruits of the band's three-year labour. Can The Spree maintain the high standards their first two abums (and interim EP "Wait") set?

Who are The Polyphonic Spree, then? I went into detail on my review of their aforementioned EP "Wait", but suffice to say that they are a 20+ member-strong band who describe their output as "choral symphonic rock" - a superb blend of sunny Beach Boys-style melodies with huge, textured and dense production, vocals vaguely reminiscent of pop-gospel crossover choirs and optimistic, chant-like lyrics. They have to be heard to be believed. Pitchfork go as far as to describe them as "positively exhilirating to behold" - and as any regular Pitchfork reader will know, they have high standards.

The album kicks off with a 30-second intro that acts as a fade-in from their previous album, "Together We're Heavy", to this one (indeed, the track is entitled "Section 21 (Together We're Heavy)"). It fades in to one of the band's hardest-rocking songs yet, "Section 22 (Running Away)", which despite a slightly less "sunshine-lollipops-and-rainbows" feel than opening tracks on previous albums, soon blooms into a catchy radiant chorus of "It's like running away with the wind in our faces, like flying".

"Section 23 (Get Up And Go)" is an immensely funky track that is more ragged and jarring than past efforts while maintaining their trademark swooning chorus. But it's "Section 24 (The Fragile Army)" that is the album's standout track. Perfect single material, in the vein of earlier albums' "Section 9 (Light & Day)" and "Section 12 (Hold Me Now)", it is immensely singable - but the real draw is the "Bohemian Rhapsody"-like development of the track, from the piano-driven ballad of the start to the horn and brass-focused middle and the full-on Broadway symphony the song ends as. It's a finely-honed slice of musical genius, and is a tune you'll undoubtedly retun to time and time again, always discovering something new in the dense, layered backing music - featuring everything from typewriter sound effects to Vaudeville-style jazz.

"Section 25 (Younger Yesterday)" is similarly strong. Perhaps the least resoundingly optimistic in the band's catalogue to date, lead singer Tim DeLaughter opens with the alarmingly downbeat (for the Spree, at least) "well everybody cries / I think I'm beginning to find I was younger yesterday / And I'm feelin' not so gray". But all is not lost: as piano, backing vocals and horn section pull together, the lyrics take a turn for the rather more idealistic - "now you know you're beautiful / Everything's alright, together we're alright" DeLaughter cries over a textured, polyphonic backing.

Section 26, "We Crawl", is the first of the album's slower pieces. It's not as great a success as what preceded it but the opening provides some much-needed relief from the irrestibly catchy tunes with a lighter, slower backing beat and a cautiously optimistic chant of "We try / we crawl". By the closing stretch, however, it has built up into another full-band piece, and while the chorus retains a quiet melancholy upon each repetition the later verses and bridges are just as well-choreographed as the more obvious belters of the album.

"Section 27 (Mental Cabaret)" is a slightly re-worked version of a track previously featured on their "Wait" EP. As I wrote in that review, its key draw is the gorgeous swooping, swooning chorus and the multiple tempo changes that play off of the vocals. It's a strong track, though not quite as good as subsequent "Section 28 (Guaranteed Nightlite)" which has all the key ingredients of a great Spree song: chant-like sing-a-long chorus, several sponatenous changes of direction that leave you guessing listen after listen, and that endearingly unabashed optimism that creeps through on their most effective tunes.

"Section 29 (Light to Follow)" is the Spree's first truly experimental song (excluding the miserable 36-minute failure of "Section 10 (A Long Day)", which we'd all do best to forget). Featuring electronic and techno backing, it's the first Spree song to work effectively without the majestic symphonic backing, proving the band are not just a one-trick pony. We're back to those roots with "Section 30 (Watch us Explode [Justify])", though, another memorable, catchy majestic orchestral giant with the line "Watch us explode!" perhaps something of a prophecy on the near-future career of the band?

The album is rounded out with "Section 31 (Overblow Your Nest)" and "Section 32 (The Championship)". The former is one of the album's weaker tracks - a ballad which is never quite interesting enough to get off the ground - but the latter is an effective epic (at six minutes long, it's the album's longest cut) closer that feature the most adventurous vocals of DeLaughter yet alongside another complex, textured melody. The minute-long fade-out is guaranteed to leave you wanting more.

The album is available as a download, a standard CD and a Limited Edition CD/DVD. The latter two options see the CD presented in a jewel case, also containing a fold-out poster of the band 9 times the size of the CD cover art with notes, credits and thank-yous on the back (including one to David Bowie, one of the band's key celebrity champions and an artist from whom the Spree have clearly drawn a lot of inspiration).

The Limited Edition CD/DVD also features a DVD, accessible by opening the inner part of the jewel case from the left. It features an interesting 51-minute documentary entitled "Raise Your Ears and Hold On To Your Heart", a rather appropriate title I felt, and comprises interviews with the band members and production team - especially lead vocalist Tim DeLaughter - alongside footage of the band at work, early versions and samples of tracks from the album, and a few sections looking at life on the road for the band. It's a worthy watch. The DVD also includes the fantastic video to "Section 24 (The Fragile Army)", which is comprised of a montage of 2,341 still photographs - not one second of video footage is used. It's very effective - and very cool.

A recent release at time of writing, the average price for both the Limited Edition, the Standard edition and the Import edition is all around £10 - weird, eh? Pretty expensive, even for a new release - especially the Standard CD edition.

Is "The Fragile Army" worth the outlay, them? The answer is a resounding "yes" - it's more fully-rounded than their first two albums and the bonus DVD is a must for fans. The Polyphonic Spree are by this point really comfortable with what they're doing, and their songwriting skills have been seriously honed - while their first album was good fun, it lacked something in the lyrics department, and the melodies got samey - but they don't refrain from taking risks either, as the wonderful "Section 29 (Light to Follow)" illustrates. Perhaps their unrelenting optimism is an acquired taste but there's never been a better time to get acquainted - "The Fragile Army" is a fine example of a band at the top of their game.

Summary: The Polyphonic Spree's most well-rounded effort yet