After years of gradual evolution, Brooklyn band
Wilder Maker
came into their own on their 2018 album
Zion
. The band had already been active for a while by then, but their chemistry congealed around founding member
Gabriel Birnbaum
's vivid lyrical narratives in a new way on
, feeling like interconnected scenes of joy and disillusionment with a backdrop of New York's endless bustling. The album toyed with different styles and guest contributors, but its follow-up,
Male Models
, takes everything a few steps further. In addition to layered production and moments of orchestral texture amid the band's detailed pop songwriting,
invite a host of guests to sing lead on almost half of
, giving the album the feeling of an intimate but somewhat tense gathering where friends and strangers take turns telling their tales. Where
felt like a specific meeting of emotional and urban environments, the rotating cast of
makes it play out like a series of vignettes.
Felicia Douglass
of
Ava Luna
and
Dirty Projectors
sings of loneliness and uncertainty over the paradoxically smooth, soft rock groove of "A Professional," while
Mutual Benefit
leans into a
Bright Eyes
-modeled desperation on the chamber folk of "New Anxiety." While well-known for her solo work,
Katie Von Schleicher
had been a part of
from early in the band's existence, and sings lead on two tracks here, the sad and drifting country-tinged "Silver Car" and the album standout "Against Numbers." The oddly timed riffing of that song recalls certain eras of both
Radiohead
Portishead
, and eventually opens up into a hooky, fuzz bass-led chorus that recedes into unexpected counterpoint from a woodwinds section.
Counting Crows
vocalist
Adam Duritz
even shows up for the bouncy "O Anna." When
Birnbaum
handles vocal duties, the songs usually go in grittier directions. Album-opener "Letter of Apology" finds him recounting a drunken social disaster at a friend's party, his rough-edged voice taking its place in the lineage of New York storytellers that includes
Lou Reed
,
Jim Carroll
, and
the Hold Steady
's
Craig Finn
. Upbeat rockers like "All Power Must Remain Hidden" and the blown-out boogie of "Scam Likely" tap into
's powers as a live band, keeping things fun amid all the lyrical intensity. While often densely packed with both ideas and sonics,
manages to keep from becoming too overwrought with concept or despair. Instead of attempting to balance conflicting feelings or sounds, however,
instead brings them all to the party, seats especially disparate entities at the same table, and invites the audience to kick back and watch what unfolds. Over the course of
, that unfolding can take the form of chaos, beauty, listlessness, or enlightenment, depending on the song. ~ Fred Thomas