Frog Eyes – Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph (2010) [Dead Oceans] // Grade: A

Carey Mercer, lead singer of Frog Eyes (and member of Swan Lake) is up there in my mind as one of the most interesting voices currently active in music. His chaotic ramblings delivered with a light falsetto teeter on the edge, and you’re never quite sure if he’ll jump or turn right back around and slap you in the face with a bittersweet melody. Mercer finds a natural home for his wordplay on Frog Eyes’ fifth studio album, Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph, an album of long-players, drowned in fuzz and practiced frenzy.

Mercer immediately thrusts you into unpredictability on nine-minute opener, “A Flower In A Glove”. His falsetto sweeps dramatically over ambling guitar and crackling bass, eventually disappearing into a wall of reverberating echo. It’s a track so filled with emotion that it’s almost too powerful a choice for album opener. But Mercer is not one to approach you tenderly, and Paul’s Tomb continues onward, wrapped in emotive tension. The guitarwork on “Odetta’s War” sprawls infinitely, gentle tears that build alongside Mercer’s vocals into an eventual tantrum of heartbreak. “Lear, In The Park” offers a rare, albeit short, break from the emotional overload, a vocal-less reflecting pool of swirling guitar melody. Closer, “Paul’s Tomb”, escorts you out as powerfully you were initially sucked in. Agitated guitar gives way to indiscernible cackles as Mercer’s vocals deviate ever further from melody and towards madness.

Many might claim Frog Eyes’ 2007 release, Tears of the Valedictorian their grand testament, but the long-playing format of follow-up Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph gives Mercer & Co. extra room for experimentation, taking the listener on a disorienting journey into the volatile.

- Scrooge McFuck