CD of The Week

British quartet Django Django rose to prominence in 2012 on the strength of their self-titled album and off-kilter songs such as “Default” and “Hail Bop.” The band received critical acclaim right off the bat and was nominated for a Mercury Prize that year (losing to their similar-minded peers in alt-J). Most importantly, the Y-Not listeners also voted them as the #1 new artist of the year! Now comes the traditional “difficult second album,” Born Under Saturn.

The album kicks off with the psychedelic “Giant,” followed by their latest single “Shake and Tremble,” which mashes up surf rock guitar-via-The B-52s and a similar galloping beat not far from their hit “Default.” Singer Vincent Neff channels Brian Wilson a bit over the unique percussion of “Found You.” And you should be familiar with the early single “First Light,” which we’ve been playing for months and is probably the strongest song on the record.

After the first third of Born Under Saturn, much of the middle of the album settles into a very similar groove of electronic sounds and sonic quirks, like the dripping water effect in “Vibrations.” Most of these songs essentially float by on an ocean of vocal layers. The record does pick up in the back end, thanks to the interesting guitar sounds of “400 Years” and “Break The Glass.”

Alongside the aforementioned alt-J, Born Under Saturn should help Django Django remain at the forefront of trippy new indie rock coming out of the UK.