Look Mexico: This Is Animal Music

Look Mexico are a goofy indie quartet from Tallahassee, but their instrumental chops and arranging skills are seriously good. This Is Animal Music opens with the rhythmically mathy, jazzily Pavement-esque, and pleasantly catchy “You Come into My House, While I Sleep?”. They chill out for some spacey chamber pop on “Dude, You Have a Bazooka” (well, those crazy woodwinds may look like bazookas, but they’re really just clarinets). And a loopy country-folk vibe trickles through “You Ever Get Punched in the Face for Talking Too Much?”. The band’s titles tend to be more interesting than their lyrics about interpersonal uncertainty, although a few nice phrases leap out, like: “You can be lighthearted, but you can’t be funny”, from “Done and Done”. At 14 tracks, This Is Animal Music runs a little short of new ideas. Nonetheless, some standout songs, good musicianship, unexpected moments, and an overall enjoyable sound make for a strong, catchy debut from Look Mexico.