If you're going to see the Forms live, don't be fooled by the smooth echoes and intoxicating melodies that you hear on their latest self-titled album. Sure, the band (whose name is an ode to the likes of W-2s of 1040-EZs) might kick off a show with a calm, ethereal instrumental, but this will soon be interrupted by the kind of hard and fast rhythms and persistent drumming that helped the foursome rock the house when I saw them at New York's Bowery Ballroom. They sprinkle these rhythms with delicate guitar work and silvery vocals, offering up a layer cake of sound—the auditory equivalent of a Sticky Fingers confection. And honestly, what could be better than that?

On their second album, which took a biblical amount of studio time to record, the Forms are able to achieve massive melodic intensity at some moments, followed by beautiful retreats to shimmering subtlety in the next. These guys definitely live up to the blogosphere hype—not that Tween would know anything about the growing buzz around his band: "I have a, I don't know, maybe it's some kind of personality or mental problem, but if something is really positive, it kind of rolls off my back... it doesn't really do that much for me. But if I see something that's really negative it can get under my skin and bother me," he explains. "So I try to avoid the whole thing all together."

But at the rate the Forms are going, pretty soon that attention will be difficult to ignore. After wrapping up a spring tour with another must-listen indie band, Cloud Cult, they'll be resting up before hitting the road again this summer. (Check their Web site for updates.) In the meantime, do yourself a favor and buy the new album—you'll be even happier when you hear these tunes live!

- Jessica Keefe

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