Shapes and Sizes

“Weekends at a Time” by Shapes and Sizes, from Shapes and Sizes(Asthmatic Kitty):

Ideally, the first song on a band’s debut album represents the culmination of its creative career to that point, an opening salvo expressing the group’s confidence in committing this introductory statement to indelible media. Shapes and Sizes exhausts its arsenal to ensure that “Island’s Gone Bad,” the first track on its self-titled debut, makes a positive impression. The tune begins with gloomy acoustic-guitar strums as singer Rory Seydel moans about having to scavenge for food; then it twists into a tropical paradise as his shipwrecked mate, Caila Thompson-Hannant, cheerfully sings, Fruit always tastes much sweeter when I’m with you. The album’s remaining tracks also boast multipart structures, including jazzy interludes and electronic codas. Guest musicians handle some of the exotic instruments, but the record’s crucial elements — male-female harmonies, mutant guitars that sound as if they’re reverberating through an alien atmosphere, engaging melodies — should be even stronger live.