The Visible Men

The Visible Men’s new album, Love: 30, is definitely something to be mulled over. Like a piece of art that sets you slightly off-kilter, expensive cheese with an odd smell to it or fine wine with a moldy undertone, this album leaves you pleased but questioning. The lyrics, while melancholy and beautiful, do tend to whine and take themselves too seriously. And they don’t quite balance the music, which is sad in a comical way, like repeatedly losing at Mario Brothers while listening to a mournful accordion. Taken as a whole, this album is a pop-art jumble of sounds, fusing accordion and electric guitar with strains of lounge piano and keyboardy video-game theme, alternating between indie-rock and epic vocal tones and coming off as a curious hodgepodge of eccentricity.