Out of Love

There are moments on Mister Heavenly’s debut album Out of Love that invoke some long-lost 1950s teen drama flick. Band members Ryan Kattner, Nicholas Thorburn and Joe Plummer (from Man Man, Islands and the Shins, respectively) come together for this project with very specific intentions. Their songs draw upon the innocence of doo-wop (and, at times, the bruising crunch of early heavy metal) to frame disturbing vignettes with David Lynch-like overtones. Thorburn’s mellifluent croon and Kattner’s more abrasive yelp form an effective one-two vocal punch, aided by the judicious use of background vocals. The lyric thrust ranges from slightly twisted sweetness (“Hold My Hand,” “Charlyne”) to ominous eroticism (“Diddy Eyes”) and unrestrained violence (“Bronx Sniper,” “Harm You”). If the emotions here get a bit extreme, the music remains smart and incisive, with the rollicking, faux-Asian “Pineapple Girl” and the swooning, string-accented “Your Girl” standing out sonically. Undeniably dark, Mister Heavenly transcends mere black comedy by the strength of its writing and playing.