Abe Vigoda's fourth full-length effort, Crush, finds the Los Angeles-based band moving away from its "tropical punk" past and slipping toward a more electronic-studded, synth-soaked sound that's a little darker and a lot dancier than its past releases. It's one of those albums that reveals a major quantum shift in sound—the kind that tends to throw an act's diehard fans for a loop (see also: MGMT's Congratulations, Yeasayer's Odd Blood or Sufjan Stevens' The Age of Adz). With Crush, it's clear that the band went through a significant between-album metamorphosis, reinventing itself as a dark-wave act.
At least in Abe Vigoda's case, the catalyst for the sonic shift is easy to pinpoint. In interviews, band members have readily admitted that when new bandmate Dane Chadwick replaced outgoing drummer Gerardo "Reggie" Guerrero, he brought the electronic elements with him. And it worked out pretty well: Crush ended up earning Abe Vigoda spots on several 2010 year-end lists.
Speaking of best-of-2010 accolades: Wild Nothing's debut album, Gemini, landed on several lists as well. Released on Brooklyn's Captured Tracks label, the disc was just one of a number of interesting releases put out by the indie label last year. They'll join Abe Vigoda on this bill, as will local act Soft Environmental Collapse.
