With The Shape of Energy, We All Have Hooks for Hands have managed to find purchase on the slippery precipice of indie pop rock and avoided falling over it, as countless others have, into obscure mediocrity. Instead, they stand tall, as defiant contenders, championing with pride what is only their sophomore album. With a bit more concision, and more thought put towards variety, the next We All Have Hooks for Hands album could rise above even the grizzled old hands of the indie music arena and earn its spot in the pantheon of pop.

The first song on the album, “Howlina and Bellowing,” wastes little time in beginning its manic sprint towards the finish line, and, after a prefatory offhand guitar riff, quickly snowballs into an overwhelming rush of infectious power pop. Driven ever forward by charged, impatient guitar playing, vocalists Eli Show and Tim Evenson push the song forward with their angsty, spirited, and occasionally indistinct singing, while the percussion maintains a steady march. The result is a compelling, sometimes hectic, indie pop song that thrills the listener and ensures their hunger for more. Luckily, more is exactly what The Shape of Energy has to offer.

Listening to the next few tracks it’s clear that, while the band hasn’t strayed far from the exuberant, slightly off-kilter power pop trajectory set by their first album, The Pretender, they have spent the last two years honing their craft. This album, while similar in tone to The Pretender, exhibits a much more polished group dynamic, which, with the performers sometimes numbering as high as ten, is no mean feat. The individual performers are more conscious of one another, and now the tracks of each instrument layer over one another, bouncing off of each other and creating an altogether more substantial song structure in general. Their new group vibe hasn’t affected their flair for the eccentric, however, and that sunny, good natured quirkiness that lends this band their edge can be spotted all throughout The Shape of Energy.

“Bring Me Home,” for example, begins much like other songs on the album, with a quickly accelerating and cheerful, if indistinct, melody that grows and grows until it finally explodes into a rush of frivolous, carefree music. Then, the vigorous vocals kick in, and the song gets into a comfortable, familiar groove. All things we’ve heard before, albeit things we loved. The song seems to be shaping up to be another serving of fuzzy, ecstatic sunshine pop. That is until all accompanying instruments are dropped and we, if only for a beat, are left with nothing but a guitar and drum kit to maintain the melody. Then, just as abruptly, the song picks back up, but in a very different tone. The song has, in a matter of seconds, been shipped to Ireland and back. Show’s voice takes on a definite lilt, and he proceeds to belt out lyric after lyric, dripping with Gaelic influence. Then, quicker than a summer rain, it’s gone almost before it began, and we’re thrown headlong back into the pop we now know so well. Small idiosyncrasies such as that are artfully dusted all over the album, adding that little bit of spice that establishes We All Have Hooks for Hands as more than just another indie band.

The only real issue to be found with the album is its lack of diversity. Not that the array of pop laid down before us is anything but delightful, but the fact remains that it’s very similar pop. While the listener might enjoy each song as much as the last and find a comfortable groove to each one, they’d be hard-pressed to recount each individual song. The perimeters of each tune on The Shape of Energy quickly begin to blur, and by the end of the album it’s a feat just to remember each song individually. That’s not to say there aren’t favorite songs to be had, individual tracks to be held in higher esteem. After a bit of digging, those songs, for me at least, were identified as the last two on the album, “Lessons Burned” and “Something to Live For”. Both exhibit a clarity of tone unvisited by the rest of the album, and, in “Something to Live For” in particular, the talents of each individual artist are showcased. From the tribal, athletic drumbeat persisting through all else to the newfound emotion in Show’s tenor, “Something to Live For” presents us with a new face of We All Have Hooks for Hands, one which I think they will begin to show more as they mature and their musical theory crystallizes into something more definite.

Altogether, The Shape of Energy is a fast paced and energetic, if hazy, album by one of the great up-and-coming indie pop bands. The only problem to be found with it is its lack of diversity, in that each song sounds like a variation of the last, which, in all fairness, is due in part to that overwhelming, rowdy vibe that paradoxically makes the band so great. It’s been said, though, that if you can find something you’re good at, stick with it, and We All Have Hooks for Hands has certainly found what they are good at. All that’s left to see is if they can continue on this same track, while still churning out original music. Only time will tell. If I had to guess, I’d say that We All Have Hooks for Hands will go nowhere but up. They have all of the makings of a pop band to be reckoned with.

Track List:
1. Howlina and Bellowing (3:36)
2. Be Love, Be Wild (4:21)
3. Made Up of Tiny Lights (3:38)
4. California (3:31)
5. Records a Stone (4:15)
6. Better to Live Than to Die (3:32)
7. Sea That Holds You (2:44)
8. Bring Me Home (3:34)
9. Lessons Burned (3:10)
10. Something to Live For (3:06)