Animals Acoustic reinterprets
This Town Needs Guns' 2008 debut a decade after its release. In the meantime, the Oxford emo rockers delivered two more full-lengths and changed their name to
TTNG. While the album's arrangements are, as to be expected, rooted in rhythmically exacting acoustic guitar, other instruments, including piano, trumpet, saxophone, ukulele, and strings, make appearances in these re-creations. With a re-ordered track list,
Animals Acoustic opens with a sparer take on "Chinchilla," whose original version included emphatic rock drums. Here, they make due with simple shaker, sleigh bells, and stick clicks while acoustic guitar and glockenspiel approximate
Animals' electric guitar, at a slightly slower pace. Later, the relatively delicate "Crocodile" opens with solo piano before adding guitar about halfway through. The instrumental "Elk" featured electric guitar and, eventually, dual trumpets on the 2008 version. The acoustic interpretation still employs harmonics on the guitar, but takes liberties with the horn arrangements to offer something more dynamic. By the time the final track, "Zebra," arrives with its guitar and pizzicato strings, the established mood is surprisingly serene considering all of the notes. That's partly due to the technical skills of the band – particularly lead guitarist Tim Collis, who stays locked into the front of the beats – and partly because these ruminative songs are well-suited to this warmer, more meditative setting. ~ Marcy Donelson