Skittish, Tragedy of the Commons (4 x 4 review)

Artist: Skittish
Title: Tragedy of the Commons
Label: S/R (2006)
Genre: Rock
Rotation: Heavy

This is one for the “pleasantly surprising CD out of nowhere” pile, though it is from Minneapolis, which is not really “nowhere,” to be entirely fair. The brainchild of Jeff Noller, Skittish is a cute nerdy pop band that commands an impressive musical range, from the carnivalesque (2) to the dance-rock-y (3) to the death-folksy (6, 7) and back again. “Ugly on the Inside” (4) ends early; at about one minute before the end of the track, there are a couple seconds of silence, and then a prim, Victorian / Edward Gorey-type spoken word piece over acoustic guitar. The same thing happens (with the addition of a chanted barroom chorus!) as the last 50 or so seconds of “Here Be Monsters” (8) and, after about 8 seconds of silence, as the last minute of “A Single Step” (11) as well. “Pass the Punch” (7) uses clanging machinery as part of the percussion section. The people in the band sing along to the guitar part in the last part of “Carousel” (2), which is adorable. “One for the Unloved” (12) has a rather charming Morrissey thing going on. There are some very pretty piano bits all over the album, too.

All clean. Recommended tracks: 2, 3, 7, 10, 6, 12