loud paper

Looper
Up a Tree
Sub Pop

Up a Tree sounds like eating a Neapolitan ice cream sandwich. Flavors pink, brown and yellow come together in a sweet treat. The record is the same way, a layering of sugary pop loops, rhythms beat out on typewriter keys or songs punctuated by children’s laughter, and finally, Stuart David’s deep Scottish voice. Each of the layers is distinct, but they meld to create a beautiful and quite catchy album. The melancholy stories told by David are made more poignant by the touch of an airy flute or a harmonica on "impossible things #2." Lyrics like "there are days that catch the light, days like diamonds," from "burning flies," make you catch your breath, like you have been out in the wind too long, but the undercurrent of a thick baseline makes you want to dance, not drift away.