Brooklyn’s Leapling isn’t much for rules, and the band’s debut album Vacant Page, (set to be co-released by Exploding In Sound Records and Inflated Records in 2015) is going to prove it. Take the album’s first single, “Crooked,” which The A.V. Club is premiering below, as an example. It may have an indie-rock framework, but its hip-hop backbone avoids nearly all the tricks traditional rock bands use. The processed drums cut in and out quickly, with cymbal hits decaying as quickly as they emerge. Staccato guitar strikes cut in between this broken groove, allowing vocalist Dan Arnes to use his soulful vocals as the song’s anchor. Leapling builds its identity around this glitchy take on Death Cab For Cutie, even if “Crooked” sees the group willingly throwing a wrench in the machine just to see what will happen.
Pre-orders for Vacant Page can be found via Inflated Records.