The Inner Banks

The Inner Banks should focus on their strengths. Featuring married couple Caroline Schutz and David Gould, along with various friends, the Brooklyn, NY band's third album is almost like two different records battling for the listener's attention. Wild has a mix of songs, with vocals and without, and it's all a little strange because of the haphazard way both are distributed. On vinyl, it would make sense to split them between the two sides of the record, but here it makes for too many shifts in mood. The vocal tracks are wonderful throwbacks to '70s British folk rock, not unlike the kind of thing Midlake were doing during the Van Occupanther days. Schutz's voice adds just the right amount of sweetness to the songs, and they have an urgency that drives them along. The instrumentals bring in some shimmering guitars and more melancholy than the album requires. This is very close to being something great, but doesn't quite achieve it.