Survival Sounds

About

Rubblebucket sound like a dozen friends having fun in a sunny field, with trumpets, saxophones, guitars, strings, flutes, and keyboards of varying origin, spinning out melodies that swing and swirl and swoop. The band actually average a more modest half dozen or so members on most days, with founders and chief composers Alex Toth and Kalmia Traver guiding the musicians in turning out quirky, smart pop music ripe with hints of everything from cabaret to jazz and disco. Traver’s voice chirps and trills and chops words into little bite-sized bits in the dancey, synth-driven “Rewind,” but on songs like “Songs of Erasing” and “Shake Me Around,” she goes big, with a Sinead O’Connor or St. Vincent kind of exuberance pushing her voice right up against bossy horns, metallic guitars, and churning percussion. Traver starts “Carousel Ride” with a sweet sing-song delivery, but as the pianos and guitars gain momentum, barreling and cartwheeling more vigorously, her voice does the same, keeping the song tethered to its loopy, rollicking self. <i>Survival Sounds</i> is bursting with clever and catchy pop, evidence of a band bursting with good ideas.

via Apple Music