In the three years since issuing its last studio album, 2004’s Together We’re Heavy, The Polyphonic Spree
has parted ways with its longtime label, refashioned its onstage persona and, in co-songwriter Julie Doyle’s own words, captured “a whole lotta light and a whole lotta darkness on the same page.” The result is The Fragile Army, The Polyphonic Spree’s third studio album and first for TVT records. Like the group’s previous efforts, The Fragile Army is filled with a kaleidoscope of bright sounds and sunny songs, but, as the album’s title suggests, between catchy sing-a-longs like “Watch Us Explode (Justify),” Doyle and the group’s guiding light, Tim DeLaughter, insert a number of surprisingly deep, and at times dark messages (like “Overblow Your Nest,” which includes the line “one day soon the world comes down and says goodbye”). This contrast seems all part of Doyle and DeLaughter’s master plan, however, a carefully plotted storyline which also includes numbering the tracks on The Polyphonic Spree’s three releases as one continuous album. Also along for the ride is onetime Polyphonic Spree tour mate, David Bowie keyboardist Mike Garson, who helps the choirsize group flesh out DeLaughter’s art-rock concepts (the early album number “Running Away,” in particular, could pass for a Ziggy Stardust outtake).
