Yellow Fever, 'Yellow Fever'

Release date: Dec. 1, 2009
Record label: Wild World
Official Web site: http://www.myspace.com/yellerfever

The buzz: The first non–Vivian Girls release on that blog-beloved trio’s own Wild World record label, this makes for the debut LP from Austin indie-poppers Yellow Fever. The duo/trio (see below) provides a cleaner, poppier yin to Vivian Girls’ more lo-fi yang, and is fronted by ex-Voxtrot, current Carrots member Jennifer Moore.

The verdict: Imagine a perfectly distilled mix of certain '80s/'90s Rough Trade and K Records sounds, along with a heavy faux-'60s girl-group influence, a few of Nico’s old tricks and a Stereolab/Go Sailor-like handiness with simple melodies—Yellow Fever nail that mildly cloying aesthetic. Destined to be a solid-if-temporal favorite among indie D.I.Y. crafter types and twee-leaning hipsters with sizable canvas tote bag collections, “Yellow Fever” will be a few people’s favorite record for a while, and everyone else will either disregard or revile it; there’s little room in-between. What Yellow Fever most have going for them comes down to production choices, as the stripped-down sound and emphasis on harmony vocals makes for a wise bit of sonic spotlighting. It also helps keep the LP from slipping too far into retro territory, instead lending a sense of modern, studied sparseness, à la Spoon. Lead track “Rat Catcher,” its three follow-ons, “Cutest Boy,” “Donovan” and “Psychedelic,” and closer “Culver City” might even be good enough to flip some haters.

Did you know? The LP mostly pulls from material already released on the band’s two EPs and single, over the course of which the group functioned as a duo (Moore and bassist Isabel Martin), trio (Moore, Martin and percussionist Adam Jones) and another duo (Moore and Jones). They’re operating as the duo of Moore and Jones currently.