Album poises locals for breakout success

Local Natives is an energetic five-piece whose fame train seems to have gained enough steam to carry these Los Angeles locals into a much larger eminence. The band recently made an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, secured a spot on the top of festival bills with My Morning Jacket and even found itself on the receiving end of some love from Pitchfork.

But in order for it to be catapulted into this exotic world of hipster fandom and Yim Yames elbow-rubbing, much is riding on its freshman full-length effort, Gorilla Manor. Good news — much goes right.

First, these guys know how to make an entrance. On the opener “Wide Eyes,” the band carefully introduces each element of its sound, making a mission statement before even a minute of the album has elapsed. The song begins with 10 seconds of a simple-but-sprightly guitar riff — a good sample of what is to come. Cue five seconds of pounding drums, a couple seconds of decorative bass and a small taster of winding rhythm guitar. This is all before the vocals — singing not-so-profound lyrics — enter the track.

The vocals aren’t stunning, but for some reason it works. And the three-part harmonies taken on catchy tracks like “Shape Shifter” hide the band’s shortcomings in vocal layering that draws comparisons to Grizzly Bear. Like “Wide Eyes,” nothing groundbreaking will be found here lyrically, but that is never a problem. The songs are more than appealing with an alluring two-guitar meandering sound and focused drumming propelling the record forward. Local Natives’ two guitarists, Ryan Hahn and Taylor Rice, play Keith Richards and Brian Jones, respectively, weaving in and out of the rhythm/lead mechanic and establishing the flow of songs such as “Sun Hands” and “Wide Eyes.”

Again, though “Wide Eyes” is not the best song on the album, it is the best example of this sound, and, consequently, the best introduction for newcomers. “Sun Hands” succeeds with this dynamic on a higher level.

It’s neither a challenging dynamic nor is it original, but the dueling guitar duo keeps it interesting with the assistance of drummer Matt Frazier. On most of Gorilla Manor’s tracks, the drums are very much in the foreground, a risky aesthetic decision that, in this instance, is a good one.

“Sun Hands,” driven by this interplay between the guitars and percussion, is a certain standout. It cannot be stressed enough how well the band works together on this track. The chemistry is so astounding that it would be hard to imagine this song not being a memorable shout-along during the band’s approaching set at Coachella.

“Sun Hands” is just one of many tracks on Gorilla Manor that are ready to be played on a big stage. But that is the most fascinating thing about these Los Angeles-based newcomers — on Local Natives’ much-hyped first album, the band sounds ready for the big leagues.

“Camera Talk” sounds like a band at its prime. It’s a song Phoenix would have stuck on its fifth album, or a track that a more mainstream Dirty Projectors would have shoved on Bitte Orca.

Local Natives functions like a well-oiled machine, and, after giving a brief glimpse of each cog at work, the dynamic of the band is seamless. Some bands struggle with being over hyped, especially as early as these guys had to deal with it.

This debut is not perfect, but, in the very engineered music climate that is present-day indie music, comparisons to Grizzly Bear and Phoenix are all a group needs to launch it into the mainstream circuit. And if it validate those claims, as Local Natives has done on Gorilla Manor, the summer-festival track is their oyster.

Local Natives has navigated a tricky line here, somehow managing to meet the inexplicable hype with an exciting record. That record, which does just enough right, should be exactly what it needs to launch its speeding buzz-train into the higher stratum of eminence that seems destined by the pre-album optimism.