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Since first dropping their self-released eponymous debut in 2007, Yellow Fever has been hot on the Austin scene, but their recording output, and even their presence playing live, has seemed somewhat sporadic and confined to intermittent bursts. Now teamed with the Vivian Girls to release the first album on their label Wild World, Yellow Fever has hopefully found footing that can take their minimalist psych-pop to the next level. That being said, for fans that have been following band, their official debut LP just retreads earlier released material, which while nice to finally have compiled on a single disc, is certainly intended to serve primarily as the band’s proper introduction to the rest of the world outside of Austin.
What is included on the album remains spectacular, however, and a reminder for locals of Yellow Fever’s charm as everyone else hopefully has a chance to catch up and latch onto the group. Kicking off with familiar favorite “Ratcatcher,” Jennifer Moore and Isabel Martin’s understated harmonies lope perfectly atop the simple beat, almost narcotically hypnotizing. “Cutest” likewise pulses infectiously behind Adam Jones’ bass, and “Donovan” distills down a twee essence.
While the three openers remain deceptively simple, “Psychedelic” finally opens up with a bit rawer power, and more representative of how the band has progressed into its current sound. Yellow Fever never really gets adventurous in arrangements, but “Psychedelic” remains among the best and most pushing against their imposed self-restraint of the early material. Likewise, “Metarie” seems to comparatively explode sandwiched between the racing drone of “Cats and Rats” and “Hellfire,” the song’s synth finally expanding the band’s palette a bit and the vocals showing more versatility and hearkening a little of Camera Obscura.
“Alice” may handle Yellow Fever’s minimal formula best, moving from the monochromatic yearning of the verses, to the subdued harmonies of the chorus and finally to the fervent yelp of the closing harmonies. Closing out with “Joe Brown” and “Culver City,” both from their Hugpatch Records 7”, the album leaves off with gestures towards the band finally taking a few more chances. While it would have been nice if the album included one or two of the unreleased tracks, a couple of which are currently on their Myspace, these final two tunes show much welcome versatility to Yellow Fever’s standard minimal bounce, with “Culver City” folding in some nice guitar tones midway, and “Joe Brown” even venturing a very slight bluesy touch as Moore’s vocals drop lower. The album brings fans up to date on where Yellow Fever currently stands, which is reason enough to herald the release, but hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for new material to be cut.
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