The second album from one of the first proper bands signed to Ghostly International is every bit as fascinating as the first. The Brooklyn nine-piece has changed name – previously, Skeletons And The Girl-Faced Boys – but they’re every bit the same band. Loose, psychedelic and ambitious, Lucas is for all intents and purposes an instrumental album, despite Matt Mehlan’s vocals. He’s so far down in the mix that his contributions are mostly textural; certainly in comparison to the orgiastic horns. The title derives from an off-the-interstate Kansas town the band drove through. Mehlan says it’s where the Garden of Eden is. Maybe. But along with the rest of the backstory (something about a vain royal who winds up being given a television) it’s difficult to verify. The story’s in the music. Mehlan’s joined by two guitarists, Jason McMahon and Tony Lowe, two drummers, Jon Leland and Mike Ames, Carson Garhart on bass, and horn players Peter Evans, Sam Kulik and Cyrus Pireh. The band draws on Fela’s Afro-beat, the wild free horns of Art Ensemble of Chicago and TV On The Radio or even Architecture In Helsinki’s intoxicating mix of sounds. It’s cacophonous, mad, pretty and reflective.
