Suddenly ascendent blog bands should think twice about leaping at the opportunity to make a big, expensive Dave Fridmann-produced record. Fridmann's expertise behind the boards has worked wonders for well-established bands like Sleater-Kinney and the Flaming Lips, but his attempts to elevate the sophmore release from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah last year succeeded only in surgically removing the positive buzz that band once enjoyed. I'm not sure Minneapolis's Tapes n' Tapes will fare much better with their impending album, Walk It Off.

"Demon Apples" has an appealingly spacious sound with some Telsa coils (or something) burbling in the background just for kicks. It's not a bad aesthetic, but on a compositional level there are no compelling developments for Fridmann to capture ably. The song starts at a slow swagger, and its sporadic accelerations of tempo only manage to jog in place. The build-up isn't particularly dramatic, and its would-be climax isn't wild enough to provide catharsis.

Lesson for the day: You can't just throw money at listless songwriting and expect an engaging result.