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Yeasayer, ‘All Hour Cymbals’ (We Are Free)

Naysayers accuse indie rock of being cautious and precious, but something remarkably contrary yet idiomatic still emerges now and then. Such as Yeasayer, whose peculiar, positivity-powered debut creates order from a mess of chants, tambourines, freak folk, and spacey atmospherics. One minute it’s a worry-free TV on the Radio (“2080”); the next, a Crazy Horse guitar roar; and later, a touching campfire chorus praying, “In my short life, I have met so many people I deeply care for.” Near nonsense rarely feels this rich and unambiguous.