Love Is All’s second album, A Hundred Things Keep Me Up at Night, beats the dreaded sophomore slump by doing two important things. First, they hew closely to the tinny and overloaded production of Nine Times That Same Song that worked so brilliantly, but introduce enough changes to keep the album from being a carbon copy. The production (by the band and Wyatt Cusick of Aislers Set) keeps the hissy clatter and the cavernous reverb, with Josephine Olausson’s vocals distorted and fuzzy. The drums and bass are relatively free of noise though, which gives the record a punch and power the debut didn’t have. A couple tracks, like the disco meets Wall of Sound “Last Choice” and the restrained ballad “More Uncertain Future,” show a subtlety in sonic approach that’s brand-new and welcome. For all its ecstatic charms, the clatter and clamor of Nine Times’ sound and performances did wear you out a bit by the end of the record. Weary in a good, sweat-soaked way for sure, but still, it’s nice to have variety. Second, they wrote songs that are just as good as the stellar batch they wrote for Nine Times. These are tracks that will propel you out of your seat and toward the nearest empty space suitable for dancing, songs that will hit you right in the gut with their unguarded emotion, and tunes that you will be singing along with the second time the chorus hits. The Clean-referencing “Wishing Well,” the furiously rocking “New Beginnings,” and the careening “Movie Romance” are all destined to be stuck in your head for days; the weary loneliness of “Last Choice” and aching melancholy of “When Giants Fall” will break your heart; and by the end of the record you’ll be left wondering if the band can possibly top these two albums. Taken together, they position Love Is All as one of the best post-punk revivalist groups, and arguably the equal of their influences. Whether you stand behind that statement or not, A Hundred Things Keep Me Up at Night is as good as indie rock gets in the late 2000s. – Tim Sendra