Alex Ebert and his posse are on album number three and their extravagant hippie parade shows no signs of slowing down. Under the stage/cartoon messiah name Edward Sharpe, Ebert has made some deliriously joyful noises with The Magnetic Zeros. The band's new self-titled record may  be the band's most concentrated, pitch-perfect attempt at sixties-throwback pop songwriting. Its lo-fi production aesthetic, however, undermines and dilutes the effect of some truly likable tracks.

Instead of creating warmth and nostalgia, the crackly, song-submerging production comes off as generally alienating, consciously far lower in sound quality than the pop hits of yesteryear Ebert cheerily apes and expressively transforms. Ebert seems to have a romantic idea of lo-fi recordings, forgetting that most great acts who resorted to the techniques the band uses on the record did so out of DIY necessity and were more than thrilled to use better technology once their budgets permitted. Unless Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros have already spent the money they've made from being featuring on NFL commercials, the group has no excuse for intentionally sounding broke.

Gripes against production choices aside, Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros is an enjoyable listen beneath the "did-I-just-download-a-crappy-32-kbps-copy-of-this-album-or-is-this-actually-how-it-sounds" coat of sonic sludge that dampens everything a bit. The songs themselves, divorced from the slumming recording style, are breezy, fun, full of psychedelic fervor and gospel-of-love preaching. Whether calling listeners to "come celebrate" the difficulties of living on "Life is Hard" or espousing mass love-intoxication on the winding, jangling, brilliant "Let's Get High," Ebert rises above the fuzz and exudes the messianic confidence his alter ego is sworn to project.

The grab-bag of Beatlesesque Magical Mystery Touring, Age of Aquarius promising, and pseudo-Motown and reggae dance hall-hopping, covered in coos and claps, is as wonderful as anything The Magnetic Zeros are capable of. Though over-long and (very) occasionally lackluster, Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros is by-in-large a charming affair, closing with "This Life" in the Key of Surprisingly Honest Self-Reflection. If only the band hadn't felt the need to stamp out their ecstatic strengths with fourth-rate recording equipment...

Grade: B

This week's Thursday at Canalside installment is a guaranteed good time when Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros triumphantly return to the Queen City. These folk troubadours made a big impression with local audiences during their first Thursday at The Square a few years back, and with a new album out this summer, it will be interesting to see what they've got up their sleeves this time. Opening the show will be the tasteful sounds of Brooklyn uber pop outfit St. Lucia and local support from The Room. Of course, the show is free and starts at 5:00 PM.

Even though last week's kick off to Thursday at Canalside was magnificent, in the end, the night was tragic, a victim of what should have been but wasn't. I ran into Bossman Mac in between Hollerado and The Hold Steady and he said “there should be 4,000 people here” and he was right. Even though the weather held up (at least since 7:00 PM when I got there), a rainy and dismal day kept most people home, a spectacular shame considering there should be 3,000 more Hold Steady fans in Western New York. The…modest crowd was on the receiving end of a glorious barrage of blistering garage rock and punk ethos. As a recent and casual fan, I turned up to see what The Hold Steady had to offer (especially after talking all that smack lately), and I was transformed. Fun, rapturous fun was had, but not by 3,000 other folks alas.
 
This week’s installment is also looking in doubt, with an excellent bill featuring Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and St Lucia, the other half of the one-two indie rock punch we’re getting this year at Canalside potentially falling victim to more bad weather. I for one am particularly excited by this part of the lineup as it seems that the organizers are trying to broaden and mold local audiences towards the kind of shows we’ve been getting these last few years. This is good. Wonderful in fact. Socking Canalside audiences with up to the minute indie rock not only pretty much guarantees a good show, it might turn some diverse folks onto some good shit, and that’s what it’s all about. But this weather… it’s becoming a problem because it’s thwarting good things.

Now ordinarily I’m all about Mother Nature, but I don’t like where this is going. That’s why I propose striking back if Mother Nature keeps getting in the way of our fun. There’s some good free and almost free shows coming up and if rain becomes an issue I think a tire fire ala The Simpsons is in order. Sure it’s juvenile and will only make matters worse, but shit, something’s got to be done. Rain won’t keep the diehards and the truest music fans away; in fact they look upon inclement weather as a challenge (I however work in that shit all day so give me a break if the spirit doesn’t always move me), but for the average punter they’re not dealing with it, and in the end that’s a damn shame. Tire fire.

No, of course we can’t have a huge tire fire like Springfield. But I sure feel better after making that idle threat/suggestion, and I acknowledged what I think is an honest and beneficent effort to push things along and make things happen. In any case I’ll see you Thursday rain or shine… after whoofing yet more smack.

Last week, it was announced that Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes will be part of the Thursday at Canalside summer series, with a performance scheduled for Thurs, June 13th (something I guess Consequence of Sound just didn't feel the need to include) down at the water front. Today, the group released "Better Days," first track from their upcoming third full length album, which is annoyingly self titled (back to this in a minute). The track is actually pretty good, much better than anything I heard on their sophomore LP. Vocalist Alex Ebert's voice has some much needed heart this time around as the rest of the band, even Jade (who always appears to be drunk/stoned/both), provide some soulful backing harmonies. The song, well chorus  reminds me a bit of the Four Stairsteps "Ooh Child," which I guess is not a bad thing at all.

OK, now back to this self titled thing. Why do bands do this on any album that is not their debut album? That I get. The album is introducing the band to the world, so why not keep it self titled. But anything past that, I would like to think that the group has enough creativity to think of some kind of title. Hell, just grab a lyric from a song and throw it up there. This will always be a major pet peeve of mine. Anyways, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes (sigh...) will be released on July 23rd.
 

I was a huge fan of the first Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zero's debut album Up from Below, so I was super excited to hear their second album Here.  It was released last Tuesday and overall, I was not disappointed by their second attempt.  At first listen, the whole album sounds like it was written on a train in a completely different era.... its definitely not the most musically progressive album of the year. One thing this album does right is continue to perfect that happy, hippie, chill vibe the band is all about.  I don't think they've written another epic indie hit like "Home", but there are definitely some highlights on the album.  Opening track "Man on Fire" is easily my favorite on the album and is very reminiscent of an old Johnny Cash tune. The album was released with perfect timing for summer and I know I'll be listening to it for the next few months.