Lookbook “Wild at Heart” Review

No one should accuse Lookbook of not being bold or adventurous. Their brand of poppy electronic music is something that requires a deft touch and is one that can very easily come across as cheesy and overblown. The duo, consisting of Grant Cutler on guitar and electronics and Maggie Morrison on vocals, has refined their sound over the last year steadily playing shows throughout the Twin Cities, and the result of their efforts is their strong debut LP Wild at Heart. The band made a splash on the scene last year with their I Fear You, My Darkness EP which found the band dabbling in the chic sound which is expanded on with the new record.

While I Fear You, My Darkness was a pretty straightforward shot at creating electronic pop songs with killer hooks, the band extends its sound on Wild at Heart. Surely armed with the confidence that Morrison’s amazing voice was going to sound great behind anything, Cutler became a mad scientist out to create as diverse and exciting an album as he possibly could. The disc starts out with “Over and Over,” which features a Nick Zinner-like guitar line colliding with some pulsing drums. After the building intro, Morrison joins in with some catchy echo laden vocals. The next song, “Yesterday’s Company,” is a track that they have been playing at shows for quite a while and it is as compelling on record as it is live. The song sounds like a lost soundtrack to a wistful ’80s TV sitcom, chock-full of nostalgia and crushing vocals. The programmed drums and guitars lead the listener into “Way Beyond” which finds Morrison’s voice cracking through her impassioned singing.

“The Only Ones” and “True to Form” find the band back to the dark, edgy electronic sound that they used a lot on past recordings. “All My Best” has an abrasive and scratchy intro that leads into a hyper speed ballad that sounds like Morrison is singing over a track that is being played on fast forward. Things slow down decidedly with “Free Your Man,” which spends its time switching between flourishing synth, and short exciting electronic speed bursts. “Passenger” finds Morrison singing “I have given all I have to give,” over a hazy keyboard line and snapping snare drum beats, the song itself hearkens back to the sound fermented on their EP.

Next up is the mid-tempo title track which is a good example of the sound the band has developed in their time together. Morrison’s vocals are sultry and seductive while Cutler provides a canvas for her lyrics with programmed beats, electronic breezes and some driving guitar work. The duo have historically been good at making a sound bigger than you might expect from two people, and this track is a perfect example of that. While some bands try to compensate for lack of numbers with excessive noise, Lookbook takes their sparse arrangement and uses it as a reason to trim out all the unnecessary fat that often drags down electro-pop songs. The result is an album full of extremely tight songs that represents some of the best pop music coming out of the Twin Cities right now. The duo finishes off the disc with a spry but energetic song titled “Surprise.” The track finds Morrison almost rapping at times over the low key rhythms before unleashing her songbird-like voice over what I suppose would be considered the chorus.

Wild at Heart is a success for many reasons. Maggie Morrison’s amazing voice is front and center, but it never sounds forced or like she’s attempting to show off. Grant Culter is not to be overshadowed however, as he does more than pull his weight with the excellent layers of sound he puts together. When all is said and done the band is creating music that when in the hands of many other bands can very quickly turn cheesy or off-putting. Thankfully this is hardly the case with Wild at Heart.