Little Tybee

Building a Bomb

(self-released)

Record Review by Adam McKibbin

One month into a new year and, with the inundation of Best Of lists still fresh in our minds, it is increasingly tempting to clear the plate and forge ahead.  To hell with 2009 – it’s so 2009!  But given the increasing glut of releases, it’s easier than ever for things to slip through the cracks, and so it was for Little Tybee’s Building a Bomb, released November 10. 

This is the debut full-length from the Atlanta quintet, and it’s so DIY that it includes an apologetic note about a screw-up with the band’s printing company, leaving them with a stack of CDs with the wrong track order listed.  Once you get Building a Bomb properly situated and arranged, you’re in for a treat; chief singer/songwriter Brock Scott is a big-time indie-pop talent.

Building a Bomb was recorded during the summer down in Atlanta, and it often evokes a breezy, summery vibe, starting with the easygoing title track that kicks off the album.  They show their hand upfront – Scott’s easygoing and effective vocal, well supported by subtle harmonizing and lots and lots of Ryan Gregory’s violin.  It’s interesting that two of their “RIYL” bands are Beirut and Final Fantasy; while there are minor orchestrally-minded parallels, Scott strikes me as an entirely different sort of songwriter than Zach Condon or Owen Pallett, who are each excellent in their own regard (and, seriously, if you haven’t checked out Pallett’s Heartland yet, please do so).  But part of Little Tybee’s charm is that it doesn’t sound like they’re trying to be interesting or even necessarily different; they just are what they are, and what they are is a gifted indie-pop band with a bright future.  So while the current trend is to play the hell out of an album prior to its release so you can be totally over it by the time it is officially available to the world, don’t hesitate to take a trip back in time to 2009 to pick up Building a Bomb.  It actually sounds like an album built more for spring and summer anyway.