Ideabreaker

The third album by Kansas indie rockers the Ants sounds rather like what would happen if one of the current crop of anthemic indie rockers — the Hold Steady or Marah, perhaps — stumbled upon an iPod filled with Music from Big Pink, the third Velvet Underground album, and a couple of early Steely Dan records, and used it as inspiration for their next album. The rough-edged indie rock vibe in scrupulously maintained throughout Ideabreaker: even on overtly country-oriented songs like the pedal steel-led "Jesus," there's still a shambolic, rough-and-tumble quality to the live-sounding performances. But at heart, the songs are based on a quirky blend of jazz-rocking electric piano, country and blues song forms, and the just-came-down melancholy that suffuses songs like "Candy Says," along with even more unexpected touches like the jaunty horn section that powers "Statues," which makes it sound weirdly like an indie rock take on Chicago circa "25 or 6 to 4." Other highlights include the oddball easy listening fusion of "The Donkey Talking About Long Ears" and the catchy roots-rocking opener, "Bootheel," which also features the album's most instantly memorable chorus. Ideabreaker is the sort of album that takes a few spins before it starts to coalesce in the listener's mind, but once it does, it takes root.