Yeasayer

As we suffer through the miserable February deep freeze, a little aural reminder of the hotter latitudes of the world might help. Brooklyn's ambitious and expansive Yeasayer have places beyond this continent in mind. Unashamedly melodramatic, they have the globe-trotting sense of grandeur of Peter Gabriel or (I swear!) Kate Bush (more responsible critics would mention Byrne & Eno's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts). Their songs are crammed full of a dozen things at once—ringing guitars, synth bombast, close-harmony singing, and...is that a bit of an Amen break peeking out of "Sunrise"? What keeps the whole thing from collapsing—and earns them continued press-hype as "Afro-pop"—is a jones for solid rhythms. The content may be bleak, but music that moves this well can't help but bring a sense of uplift and escape. Fellow Brooklynites MGMT play hazy, sun-dappled psychedelic synth-pop. Winter, schminter! Sold out.
Thu., Feb. 7, 8 p.m., 2008