Love Is Simple

The beauty of Akron/Family's sound is their ability to jump between disparate styles at a moment's notice, and sometimes to combine them all into one. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the New York-based band's third album (not counting a collaboration with Angels of Light). The band darts rapidly from "All You Need is Love"-like hippie sing-along anthems to free-form freakouts, from delicate folkie ballads to churning, tribal rhythms. Somehow it all hangs together, due partly to the sheer musicianship and partly to the band's ambitious artistic vision. LOVE IS SIMPLE is ultimately powered by an inclusive, open-hearted feel that might not feel too foreign to admirers of, say, the Grateful Dead's late-'60s output.