Quick review: Givers 'In Light'

Lafayette, La. band, Givers

Lafayette, Louisiana is a long way from New York City, but the small city's biggest band right now, Givers, owe a little bit of their world-wise indie pop sound to New York City band's like Vampire Weekend and Dirty Projectors.

But there's nothing necessarily derivative to the sound of the five-piece's debut LP In Light. A little bit experimental and a little bit world music, Givers have managed to record a really enjoyable 10 songs with what's really best described as a big sound.

These guys have maxed out what five musicians can do with multiple vocal parts -- the star being the group's lone female member Tiffany Lamson, who just has a great voice -- and great arrangements that move from springy afro-pop to big fuzzy riffs of guitar and keyboard. Even when they slow the tempo down, the band never sounds small. Actually, In Light is the audio for one really terrific party. This is a band you'd want to hang out with.

I could ponder big questions about what it means for more white kids to borrow so much from afro pop and wonder, again, why young musicians are so darn happy, but Givers make those sorts of intellectual questions feel strained and stupid. This record is just too good. I liked Vampire Weekend and this band is nearly every bit better. The record sounds great. The songs are fun -- there's not a second on the 52-minute record that doesn't belong. And the musicianship is top notch. Givers are playing this kind of music because they can (and it ain't easy, trust me).

So without worrying about where this fits in the culture of pop music right now, I'm going to enthusiastically recommend In Light for essential summer listening. It does everything a great pop record should do. Just get it. It's that good.

For a sample, the band performed the record's first track "Up Up Up" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon: