Akron/Family - 'Love Is Simple' (Young God) Released 08/10/07

As satisfying as that blast of jazz-tinged racket and frazzled folk was, last year's 'Meek Warrior' found New York’s Akron/Family at a juncture where it sounded worryingly like the band's heroically busy gigging schedule had started to eat into their celebrated creativity, dulling the quartet's way with a tune and erecting frustratingly steep barriers between the two extremes of their sound - improvisational skronk and soothing cooing - that coexisted so harmoniously on their first two releases, 2004's self-titled debut and the following year's split LP with Young God chief Michael Gira's Angels of Light.

As such, it's a relief to discover that 'Love Is Simple' finds a rejuvenated band not so much operating on all cylinders as pinching some shiny new ones and adding those to their engine room for extra oomph, hopping over glaring genre gaps with the springly joy of bunnies in springtime and practically teeming with magnificent melodies, heavenly harmonies, rhythm athletics, communal chanting and mischievous mangling of conventional formulas. 'Love Is Simple' is a bottomless treasure chest of irresistable delights that purrs sweetly like a particularly sweet furry animal one moment, only to launch into a beastly gallop of unstoppable momentum when you lean in to stroke the cuddly creature.

Only Animal Collective could hope to match Akrons' overflowing abundance of ideas, not the mention the infectious whiff of joy this 55-minute noise-making expedition emits. Instead of limiting themselves to the worn-out verse-chorus formula, the band cram as many movements into each selection as possible, magically managing to shape coherent, decidedly un-wacky entities from pieces that shouldn't fit together. The absolutely uproarious 'Ed Is A Potral' bounces like a hazy-eyed country-rock emsemble tackling a Konono No. 1 groove, complete with indecipherable cheerleading from a roomful of partying loonies, before taking a steep detour into a finger-picking middle eight oozing with wide-eyed wonder and a finale involving strange rituals conducted with the help of a malfunctioning vintage drum machine.

Astonishingly, this wild cavalcade of differing flavours makes perfect sense, as does the beautiful blend of languid desert blues ala Tinariwen or Toumani Diabete and a mad droning meltdown on 'Lake Song/New Ceremonial Music for Moms',  the collision of electrified bluegrass and a monumental riff lovingly ripped off from 'Sparks' by The Who on 'I've Got Some Friends' and 'There's So Many Colours's jaw-dropping rollercoaster ride through semi-monotonous chanting, bleary-eyed alt. country, psychedelic noodling and amp-busting Crazy Horse crunch. But it's not all about pushing boundaries and mapping as-of-yet uncharted territories. The chill-inducing prettiness of 'Don't Be Afraid, You're Already Dead', equipped with a vast chorus tailor-made for teary-eyed sing-a-longs, resembles peak Neil Young in its uncomplicated grandeur, whilst the delicate late-night croon of 'Crickets' and the expansive choral finale to the otherwise low-key 'Pony's O.G.' must rank as the band's most strikingly gorgeous moments to date.

But it's not just an uncommonly harmonious union of fearless experimentation and a firm g.php on tunecraft that makes 'Love Is Simple' such a feat. What really propels these jams into the stratosphere is the unabashed love of music the album's oozing with. The unselfconscious enjoyment and charming warmth that powers these numbers make most of the target-marketed, endlessly processed and calibrated pap we're force-fed daily sound even more pathetic; robotic, calculated clatter better suited for hawking jeans than human consumption. 'Love Is Simple' is a timely reminder of an elemental truth. Truly special sounds are crafted by musicians besotted with the simple delights of cooking up an almighty racket. Judging by 'Love Is Simple', Akron/Family are madly in love with the stuff.