Pitchfork

I'll come right out and admit it: I am partial to banjos. I don't know if it's that plucky timbre or the circular figures it inevitably turns out, but every time that distinctive sound graces a song outside of the Grand Ole Opry, I feel uplifted and refreshed. Air, in their third single from this year's Talkie Walkie, thankfully uphold this delicate tradition as they employ the banjo to salvage "Alpha Beta Gaga" from their less commendable instrumental tendencies.

The song initially swings to a casually whistled tune that's recently become popularized as a ringtone in the UK. It suffices well enough in the beginning, surrounded as it is by schoolyard atmospheres, clinking synth runs, and later, a tersely played violin. But just when you're about to punch whoever's responsible for that high-pitched trill, Air bring out their ace: the lush, plucked strings so effectively employed in The Virgin Suicides. Satisfaction creeps in, then fades under the suspicion that, indeed, you've heard this before from Air, on more than one occasion. Locked in tandem, the banjo and the beat come to the rescue. Luscious sounds used previously in the song gradually join the pied picker in a round that rocks your hips as well as your brain. The next thing you know, you're bobbing your head to someone whistling.