Shapes and Sizes: Split Lips, Winning Hips, a Shiner

At worst, Shapes and Sizes come off like the self-consciously quirky “free spirits” who mock your cynicism and discredit your legitimate depression, trying to get you to join sing-alongs and play charades at parties where you’d rather just be left to drink beer and converse. So why is Split Lips, Winning Hips, a Shiner so irresistible?

Probably because, unlike other indie rock bands who dabble in the aesthetics of not really working too hard, most of whom would probably be making boring old rock if they got off their couches and practiced once in a while, Shapes and Sizes kick up a cloud of aural pixie dust that, stripped of its spontaneity and sloppiness, would remain a conceptual enigma, a carefully thought out reel of heady chaos and dazzling contradiction.

Time signatures change with jarring frequency, electronics weave in and out puckishly, and singer/keyboardist Caila Thompson (who shares vocal duties with guitarist Rory Seydel and bassist Nathan Gage) is one of those rare souls who may just be the wizened, androgynous sprite she’s pretending to be.

With music that is arch, celebratory, off-putting, giddy, and more serious (and more disciplined) than it appears, Shapes and Sizes manage to weave all I’ve come to dislike about the indie aesthetic into a delirious art-rock masterpiece.

- Lyam White
Shapes and Sizes (Asthmatic Kitty Records)