Album Review

Tap Tap
Lanzafame
B

I'm a sucker for jangly guitars, lo-fi fuzz and yelping vocalists; of course I like these blokes. Propelled by kick drums, handclaps, accordions, and poppy hooks, the songs march steadily along with Sir Thomas Sanders shakily shouting or softly wavering his conversational falsetto dutifully.
Lanzafame provides a great soundtrack for getting drunk, pretending to sing along, or awkwardly flailing about; or ideally, all three simultaneously. Glimpses of Punk, Country, Folk, and Pop occasionally peek in through the ramshackle, raw, and messy wave of Tap Tap's sound. This is a compact album stuffed full of easily digestible tracks--filled with la la las and catchy, hum-able harmonies--that rarely run over three minutes. While the lyrics are sometimes obscured and hard to decipher, clever lines such as, "I got up in such a hurry I'm still stuck in my dreams," lace each song.
I can picture these guys converging in a garage after a day at the pub and work, strapping on their instruments, turning up the amps and disturbing the neighbors. Overall, the garage-of-microphones-and-duct-tape sound adds to the charm and atmosphere of the melodies. But once in a while the hooks are so catchy, the flow so contagious, I wish his quirky high-pitched vocals or the jerky guitar strumming would pierce the confines of the tinny recordings. Too often the (nearly tape recorder quality) lo-fi production frustratingly hold Tap Tap’s raw and volatile energy back. Obvious and often noted comparisons exist with such hip bands as CYHSY, Tapes 'n Tapes, and Sunset Rubdown. But they carve out their own distinct sound, and uhh… they're British too. Buy this album.

Listen to:
10,000 Thoughts
Talk Slowly

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Buy the CD here, it's only $7.