Chappo

When Apple used Chappo's "Come Home" in a 2010 ad for their iPod Touch line, it was another example of an embarrassingly catchy indie-lite anthem (i.e., MGMT's "Time to Pretend" or fun.'s "We Are Young") reaching its intended audience. Belatedly resurfacing on Chappo's sophomore LP, Moonwater, "Come Home" may sit as the standout track, but curiously, it's their least adventurous. Over 11 tracks, like polyrhythmic classic rocker "Hell No" and seven-minute near-freak-out "M.O.O.N. Water," the Brooklyn, NY five-piece give the listener more reasons to buy-in than just an iPod endorsement. "Native Savage" comes off just as the title would imply ― full of grunts and woodwinds ― while "Sunblades" is as sonically fit and sound as almost anything Elephant Six managed to produce two decades ago. Chappo may not be delivering ground-breaking music and they'll most likely never be bloggers' darlings, but Moonwater does manage to humble the know-it-all-before-we-hear-it snob in all of us.