Music is so often limited in its scope that one finds it easy to pigeonhole a certain sonic experience as genred and cliché. This album from the brainchild of The Grifters and Those Bastard Souls escapes any such labeling with more diversity and depth than any three-piece should have. With this brave venture into the broad field of indie pop, the Bloodthirsty Lovers establish themselves as a band to look out for.

Each track on The Delicate Seam provides a unique aural experience all its own. Opener “The Mods Go Mad” blends the airy vocals of The Polyphonic Spree with buoyant techno underpinnings, while “El Shocko” borrows 60’s doo-wop and fuses it with a ragtime piano over distorted vocals… only to end in a storm of pulsating beats. When lead singer David Shouse isn’t channeling the dreamy states of the Flaming Lips on the inspiring “The Postcard From the Sea,” it might just be because the Lovers are busy rocking out on “The Conversation.”

Far and away the standout track of this, one of the best albums of the year, closer “Medicated” sees Southern belle Katie Eastburn of Young People croon a pseudo-spiritual ballad of loss: “Beautiful feeling/Tracing cracks on the ceiling…” “Hop on to Haiti/bring back charms that’ll save me.” Eastburn’s voice rings through the air over a soft synthesized beat, the ideal, cathartic ending to a relaxed album. At least, it is until the guest vocalist starts trading lines with Shouse, who chimes in with his rebellious yelp: “Where have you been?” "Out on the transit strike/flipping off the wind.” “What are you worth?” “Somewhere between 1000 cigarettes/and a bolt of lightning.”

The lyrics’ inanity doesn’t manage to lower the emotion expressed, and the abrupt shift in tone is just one of many throughout the album, added almost just to throw off expectations. Perhaps the only unifying element among all the tracks springs from the artists’ tight grasp on pop mechanisms, guaranteeing an enjoyable and diverse experience throughout.