Midlake

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Imagine Grandaddy and the Flaming Lips composing a musical for 8-year-olds and you've got a pretty good idea of Midlake's sound. The Texas band specializes in wide-eyed epics writ from big drums and Casio components, a tooting, psychedelic circus pitched on the same parade grounds where Sgt. Pepper once marched. Like records by other naive acts (Of Montreal comes to mind here), Bamnan and Silvercork features the kind of lyrics that will either warm your heart or make you want to punch someone, depending on your tolerance for whimsy. A sample: "See in the tall weeds/ With his head leaned/ By an ant hill/ By some water/ With a trumpet lightly sleeps the jungler." Yes, that's jungler, and by the song's end, the imp has run off with the gold. Later we hear about "monicle" men and photograph machines and cupcakes in the air. If you're already clenching your fists, abandon hope for Bamnan and Silvercork. Everyone else (especially you Grandaddy fans) would do well to spend some time pursuing that jungler.