FOR ALL OF its good qualities, one of the most likeable things about Brooklyn band Big Thief’s debut album, Masterpiece, is how easily its parts fit together.
Songwriter and frontwoman Adrianne Lenker’s delicate vocals are often enveloped in the warm crunch of Buck Meek’s electric guitar, but they’re never overpowered. When they’re not crunchy, Meek’s guitar parts jangle and swoop with abrasive glee, but they always play nice with the airtight rhythmic work of bassist Max Oleartchik and drummer Jason Burger, who left the band shortly after recording the album and was replaced by James Krivchenia.
On Masterpiece, Big Thief alternately sounds like an unearthed field recording (“Little Arrow”), a pop band with a broken heart’s pulse (“Vegas”), and a classic, buzzy indie-rock outfit (“Interstate”). “Velvet Ring” is a fluttery, fingerpicked descendent of Elliott Smith’s bedroom lullabies, while the title track—a tumbling jumble of riffs and melody—is one of the best songs of 2016.