Ages and Ages stands tall on a crowded field of indie-folk, offering snappy, harmony and percussion-forward jaunts imbued with poignant social philosophy. The Portland, OR eight-piece turned the heads of music supervisors and President Obama himself with 2011’s sparse, choral Alright You Restless. On their latest, Divisionary, spiritual leader Tim Perry enlists more intricate production, creative countermelody, and a Rube Goldberg machine of shakers, claps, clinks, and rattles.
We’re drawn in by driving sing-a-long, Light Goes Out, and the swampier I See More. The shimmering acoustic groove and vocal interplay of Big Idea evokes classic California pop (akin to underrated contemporaries The Belle Brigade). But the kicker is the grand finale; an uplifting, anthemic title track that sends us out on a high note, like Row, Row, Row, Your Boat for secular humanists.
– Whitaker Elledge
