AMG Review of We Like It Wild

James Christopher Monger
All Music Guide

Bloomington, IN, psychedelic songsmiths the Impossible Shapes play sweet, angular pop music that revels in post British Invasion squalor. Like Secretly Canadian labelmates the Danielson Famile, the group has a knack for deconstructing melodies and bending notes to its will, making repeated listening fresh and rewarding. Their fourth album, We Like It Wild, is a smorgasbord of complex arrangements and record collector know how. The sparse opener, "Give Me a Note," features a spooky call back to the phrase, "Build your house/Oh burn your house," and the funky pop confection "She Let Me Run," with its gritty guitar assault, sounds like a lost Ziggy-era David Bowie recording. Other tracks, like the melancholy "What the Winter Does" and the subtle prayer "To Be Wild," are simply beautiful. Unlike many in the indie rock scene, the Impossible Shapes aren't afraid to be good musicians, and the whole of We Like It Wild reflects that. Their penchant for dark tones and autumnal lyrics distances themselves from the oft-compared Elephant Six collective and places them in the company of less ironic artists like the Lily's and the Shins. They have a vision and they're going to follow through with it whether you're with them or not.