Understanding the ever strange and mysterious Fol Chen, their even stranger letters to Donna Donna, or their “message from the Subcommittee on Public Safety,” a droll recitation of the lyrics to their single “In Ruins” by a dapper anchorman in shades of black and white, is a lot like solving a Rubix Cube without first studying the algorithms. Either you’re a genius, or you’re full of it, and just pulled the stickers off.

Signed to the prestigious Asthmatic Kitty label, which was founded by none other than Sufjan Stevens and his stepfather Lowell Brams, Fol Chen’s previous releases have been met with high praise, and anticipation for the next album from these new hit-makers with their bitingly intelligent, if whimsical, musical tendencies. And now that it’s here, titled Part II: The New December, there’s much to say about it, both good and bad, but mostly good.

P2TND starts off strong with “The Holograms”, showcasing the glitchy electro-instrumentation and dissonant, polyphonic percussion that will soon emerge as hallmarks of the album. In this song, more than many others that will follow, Fol Chen succeeds completely in creating a song that, by way of its myriad melodies and other minor avant-noise qualities, evokes a sense of near confusion, as the growing wall of pleasant, if seemingly cluttered sound threatens to overwhelm, before settling down to be led and tamed by Samuel Bing’s rising and falling vocals. It’s bewitching to say the least, fitting something completely un-pop and musically fascinating into a pop framework and making it…catchy. It’s a near-perfect example of how much control the mysterious Fol Chen have over their musical choices, seen in the way the lead guitar harmonizes with Bing’s voice on every 2nd and 4th beat, and the way the industrial drum patterns find the perfect punctuation in between the tangled entirety of this truly wonderful opening track.

The next song however, which happens to be their previously released single, “In Ruins” ensures your understanding that “The Holograms” was no fluke, and that Fol Chen know exactly what they’re doing on this album. Beginning in stark contrast to “The Holograms” with huge, marked and echoing percussion, “In Ruins” initially sounds more like a lost Rammstein b-side, with a husky bass voice whispering sinister somethings at you, before giving way to Karin Tatoyan’s beguiling warble, distinctly eastern strings and a joyous host of childishly simple piano trills. On the surface it appears to be nothing else but a categorically exuberant summer song. The whimsy in their music however, carries a dark undertone of cynicism, or perhaps lack of naïveté that wasn’t as present in their first album. It manifests itself in the way, after the 4th or 5th listen, the chillingly obscure lyrics begin to settle in, which in Tatoyan’s gorgeous, silky tone, provides a juxtaposition of timbre that is exactly Fol Chen. “You can take me dancing tonight / Look around the streets tonight / Everything’s in ruins / You look good by siren light / Baby, what’re you doing? / There’s a monument that they say they’ll build to the way things were / but we can’t return, we can slip the holes in the stories they told / we can take a walk through the ash and the acid rain.”

I heartily suggest seeing the deadpan recitation of the lyrics by the unknown anchorman on Fol Chen’s website to get the full effect.

Unfortunately, however brilliant in execution and concept the first two songs were, they are also its high point. Which is not to say the rest of the album is totally lacking—on the contrary, “The Road Where You Belong” seems as if the offspring between “The Hologram” and “In Ruins,” with the miscellaneous fuzzed out electronic whirrs of the former, and the driving percussion of the latter. None of the following tracks however, will ever reach the heights of the first two, and some, “Men, Beasts or Houses” and “They Came To Me” take the abrasive, avant-garde, indie-pop ideal a little too far, resulting in songs that try too hard to be weird. In fact, I think it warrants a comparison to MGMT, in that the good, and great songs resemble Oracular Spectacular-era MGMT, off-kilter, unique, lovable, and above all catchy pop music that is just that way, not because they tried to make it so. The wanting songs however, more resemble MGMT’s Congratulations. Contrived, stretched songs that reach for the group’s previous off-hand excellence and in doing so showcase the many holes in their talent and vision. Fortunately however, P2TND more heavily features the former trend.

As the album comes to a close, only two more songs truly stand out though. The first is “C/U.” Using the same ingredients as the other good songs on the album, it creates another instant hit—a catchy many-layered indie-pop trophy that will make it on to many a summer playlist. The track’s only flaw is Samuel Bing’s over-produced voice, while its greatest asset is the pixely trumpet section, an instrument found nowhere else in the album.

The other is the closing track “The New December,” which, as a closer, is perfect. The track slows down the tempo considerably, and brings the wild, sweaty ride of Part II: The New December to a gentle, contemplative stop, paying great tribute to Boards of Canada in an obvious but respectful fashion.

Track List:

1. The Holograms
2. In Ruins
3. Your Curtain Call
4. This is Where the Road Belongs
5. Men, Beasts or Houses
6. C/U
7. Adeline (You Always Look So Bored)
8. The Holes
9. They Came to Me
10. The New December