Title: Tamer Animals
Artist: Other Lives
Year of Release: 2011
This is one gem I did not expect to find. I remember exactly it was on a December morning, a friend of mine notified me that The National were performing a concert somewhere in the US and were streaming their set live online. Immediately I went to see it, as I found them incredible live when I saw them in November. However, during the stream my attention waned and I was looking through their last.fm page while the stream was playing in the background.
Someone in the shoutbox asked if there were bands similar to The National. I thought that would be a tall order as The National are pretty unique on their own, despite some similarities to Interpol and Joy Division. Someone else replied with Other Lives. Not knowing this band, I looked them up on last.fm as well. I decided to check out their newest effort, Tamer Animals, soon after. Needless to say, I’m deeply impressed.
Tamer Animals is a beauty of a record. The instrumentation alone on it is something to behold. Are they similar to The National? Yes and no. Yes, because both bands paint incredible moody landscapes in their songs with introspective lyrics. However, The National are firmly rooted to the ground with their lyrics while Other Lives are definitely exploring the unknown with this record, with a pretty strong dreamy folk vibe not unlike Fleet Foxes and Arcade Fire.
I won’t write any more, except that you should really check this out if you’re a fan of the bands I have mentioned here. But still, listen to it anyway.
Standout tracks: ‘For 12’, ‘Dust Bowl III’, ‘Landforms’
The Lazy Listener 