Last year’s debut from Throw Me the Statue, Moonbeams, was one of my favorite albums of last year. It was 13 upbeat Summer songs that ranged from the Phil Elverum esque “Groundswell” to the hotel commercial soundtracking of “Lolita.” All around it was one of the best debut albums I have heard in a long while. So how does Creaturesque do in following it up?

The first thing that is very different about the two albums is that Throw Me the Statue is now a full band. Lead member, Scott Reitherman, has gathered up three other musicians to back him on this album so there isn’t nearly as much drum machine on the album which really pays off on some of the larger sounding tracks such as “Waving at the Shore” and “Ancestors.” There are still some of the fuzzy blown out drum machine songs on this album and they are just as good as they were on the previous album. “Snowshoes” is the most notable of them and the drum machines are accompanied by swirling synths and Reitherman’s heavily reverbed vocals.

Whereas after their latest EP, Purpleface, you might expected Reitherman to take TMTS into a much more mellow, slower pace, Creaturesque is just as much the Summer pop album that it’s predecessor, Moonbeams was. An absolute must if you enjoy Microphones, Neutral Milk Hotel, or just a damn good Summer album.

"Ancestors" from Throw Me the Statue's 2009 album Creaturesque

"Hi-Fi Goon" from Throw Me the Statue's 2009 album Creaturesque

Honorable mentions for August 4th Record of the Week:

• Desolation Wilderness - New Universe (K Records)
  "Boardwalk Theme" from Desolation Wildenerss' 2009 album New Universe
• Lightning Dust – Infinite Light (Jagjaguwar)
  "Never Seen" from Lightning Dust's 2009 album Infinite Light
• Yacht – See Mystery Lights (DFA)
  "Summer Song" from Yacht's 2009 album See Mystery Lights