Outside

iTunes Review

Minneapolis indie rockers Tapes n’ Tapes deliver another batch of urgent, catchy, and clever tunes on their third full-length release. The self-produced Outside features a wide spectrum of styles that sharply highlight the band’s multiple personalities and charms. There’s much to enjoy here including standouts “Badaboom,” with its ramshackle rhythm pattern, the infectious guitar hook that anchors “One In the World,” the stuttering, slithering “Outro,” and the rollicking “Freak Out.” Elsewhere they drop the tempo, if not the dynamics, for “The Saddest of All Keys” and “Hidee Ho,” both of which stand apart among the jagged, jittery pop of much of the album, while “On and On” builds and releases before devolving into some glorious noise. Tight and punchy one moment, loose and jangly the next, Outside succeeds by playing on the band’s well honed strengths.