Chutes & Ladders

For those already familiar with the Orchid Pool's brand of innovative acoustic pop, it probably came as little surprise when the band uprooted from their rural Western Pennsylvania home to relocate to the musical hotbed of Athens, Georgia. With close ties to certain pillars in the Elephant 6 community, such a pilgrimage seems the next logical step for a band whose musical loyalties generally seem to lie somewhere between the polished pop majesty of the Apples in Stereo and the whimsical psychedelic innocence of Of Montreal. As with their previous recordings, the Orchid Pool again come to the table with a treasure trove of instruments/household items in tow, with the duo of Tony and Kimberly Paglia incorporating a cast of 30 instruments into their richly orchestrated pop shadings.