The Dodos - No Color

For the Dodo's new No Color (March 15, Frenchkiss), the vibes -- literally -- are out. The jittery percussions are ramped back up. Expanded to a trio for 09's more folky, less antsy Time to Die, singer/guitarist Meric Long and drummer Logan Kroeber are now back to a duo and reunited with producer John Askew, the studio vet behind the pair's first two albums.  "If you pull the vibraphone out," says Long of the amicable split with instrumentalist Keaton Snyder, "it allow other things to come through more and just make it rock more, which was our main goal on this record." The result is, a highly caffeinated album -- Long calls it "super poppy" - shot through with angular, clattering rhythmic energy.

Fortunately the songs of No Color retain a beating melodic heart, too. Along with the raucous drumbeat cacophony and swirling seat-of-the-pants thrust that drives songs like "Black Night", the hooks, delivered in Long's thankfully yelp-free vocals, ride the manic churning with a surprisingly graceful, fleet-footed feel. Once you get past the initial kick of the in-your-face percussion, the songs take on a whole new life as the melodies and other instruments -- primarily the staccato guitar riffs, more electric this time around -- come into clearer focus. It also helped that the band recorded the basic tracks for the album immediately after giving them a test drive on the road. "There's still mainly just guitar and drums," say Long, "but there's definitely a lot of layered, weird stuff going on." No Color is sreaming in full at NPR.

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The Dodos - "When Will You Go" (from the album No Color)

The Dodos - "Black Night" (from the album No Color)