Infinite Shuffle

As many great stories do, this one begins in a bar.

Shortly after seeing a Destroyer show in Chicago in late June, I was sitting with my friend at The Dark Horse in Wrigleyville, when the bartender started playing a mix of indie songs on Spotify.

As we all discussed various bands and concerts we’d enjoyed, one of the songs caught my ear. After plugging it into Shazam, I discovered it was “Figure It Out” by Suckers. I’d never heard of the band, but the bartender noted that they were pretty good, so I stuck that in the back of my mind for future use.

Fast-forward a bit, and, after listening to the band’s new album, Candy Salad, more than a handful of times, I’m confident that it will be among my favorites at the end of the year.

The first thing you notice when listening to the Brooklyn band’s two-LP catalog is how much its sound varies from track to track and album to album. While the 2010 debut full-length, Wild Smile, was something of a mishmash of influences — including most prominently Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire — the follow-up is much tighter and melodic.

On several tracks, lead singer Quinn Walker’s voice conjures up thoughts of Gruff Rhys, frontman for Super Furry Animals and Neon Neon. On a few other tracks, it almost sounds like the band employed the services of TV On the Radio vocalist and fellow Brooklynite Tunde Adebimpe.

The bulk of the songs on Candy Salad are rather catchy, as the other two band members join the fray vocally while also churning out some “psychotropic hooks.”

In addition to the above two songs, other standout tracks include “Bricks To the Bones”, “Leave the Light On”, “Going Nowhere”, “Charmaine”, “Lydia” and “Roses”.

Sidenote: It was actually while searching for Candy Salad that I discovered Plixid.com. So, bonus points for that.