Review

Not since Dire Straits’ heyday has depression and uncertainty sounded so blissful.
With all due respect to the Magnetic Fields, not since Dire Straits’ heyday has depression and uncertainty sounded so blissful. The Ladybug Transistor’s sixth full-length album, Can’t Wait Another Day, comes at a time of tragedy for the band, as drummer San Fadyl died in late April 2007, from an asthma attack, just before this album was released. It's impossible not to view this effervescent, hypnotically melodic work through this lens, in which everyone seems to be searching for salvation — or at least peace — and coming up short. "I didn’t notice that you slipped so far away / The beauty’s there but the love’s just ended / I didn’t mean to blow you all away / Forgot to mention that the gun was loaded," sings frontman Gary Olson on the album’s haunting centerpiece, “So Blind.” But, despite the pain and suffering, it would be a shame to overlook the insistent vitality in latest work from this Brooklyn indie-pop act with ties to the Essex Green and the Elephant 6 collective. Songs like “Here Comes the Rain” complement dour lyrics with uplifting chords, inviting the listener to embrace, rather than fear, our collective mortality. Almost despite itself, Can’t Wait Another Day feels wondrously alive.