Frog Eyes’ breathless, hyperliterate songs sound like frantic come-ons even when you have absolutely no idea what Carey Mercer is singing about. “I lower myself into your water / Like a mealymouthed calf that is suckered into slaughter,” he incants in a near-lucid moment, evoking Bowie’s easy grandeur and Xiu Xiu’s embarrassed insanity. Whether conjured by a showman or a madman, Valedictorian frequently collides with bracing beauty, sometimes of the conventional sort, but more often like nothing else before it.
Now Hear This: Frog Eyes – “Bushels” DOWNLOAD MP3