Light bright

Maybe in 2011, community is the bolder choice than solitude. Maybe we could all use a hug. Luckily, the joyous new music from Lafayette band GIVERS sounds just like a warm embrace feels. The band’s name, printed in loud-and-proud capitals, implies sharing, common ground and empathy. If unity can sound this good, a generation of cynics just might want in and soon.

In Light, released last month on Glassnote Records—an accelerating indie label that is also home to hyperactive French popsters Phoenix and folk rockers du jour Mumford & Sons—has been a long time coming for the popular quintet whose affirming, high energy concerts and effervescent songs have attracted an almost cult-like following the last few years across Louisiana and in parts of the country already lit for a cheerier, younger Flaming Lips rave up.

Unlike the wildly infectious, but occasionally thin sounds on GIVERS’ self-titled debut EP from 2009, In Light positively pounds and pulses on a more strapping synth backbone, a mighty rumble like those found on MGMT’s or Vampire Weekend’s more ambitiously propulsive jams. And speaking of jams, the twinkling Afro-pop of lead single “Up, Up, Up” ought to grace everyone’s speakers all summer long. The entire first half of the record is so thick with intricately threaded strands of melody and instrumentation that listeners may have to brush them back from their faces. In the second half, singer and percussionist Tiffany Lamson’s throaty vocals, constantly flirting with husky but landing gleefully, hit after hit, just this side of ethereal, anchor the Celtic rush of “Atlantic.” Singer Taylor Guarisco’s plaintive murmurs pour through “Go Out at Night,” in a solemn moment of bliss worthy of a lost Jeff Buckley ballad.

This balance within sonic space has always been important on record and in concert for the group whose shows can include saxophone, trumpet, flute and multiple drum sets. So is GIVERS secretly a group of reformed band nerds?

“Everyone but Tiffany,” guitarist and singer Taylor Guarisco reveals. “She’s the only cool one.”

Guarisco is quick to acknowledge the uplifting feel and heartwarming message of most of the band’s songs, but says he finds audiences are craving upbeat music as long as it doesn’t feel cheesy or clichéd.

“The thing about our music is that all the happiness that’s in it is really coming from an honest place,” adds bassist Josh LeBlanc. “It’s how we’re feeling about something at a particular time rather than being just manufactured.”

Last year, the band hooked up with in-demand producer Ben Allen, famous for working on hits for Animal Collective, Cee-Lo and Christina Aguilera, and retreated to Dockside Studios in Maurice, La., to track In Light.

“It was nice not controlling it so much and letting someone else collaborate with us,” Lamson says. “The sound is so much better (than on the EP). It’s what we originally wanted. It’s done right.”

The sense of culmination on In Light is particularly strong considering that three songs on the new record are based on grooves developed during the band’s very first improvisational practice session together. “That’s how the band started— just jamming,” Lamson says. “But only the golden parts of the jams make it through.”

GIVERS performs live at Spanish Moon July 30. In Light is available in stores now.

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