The Double

by Heather PharesBrooklyn's the Double serve up a unique mix of unsettling noise, loose-limbed rock, and singalong melodies. After recording their first album, 2002's folk-noise collision Loose Crochet, as a duo, the group expanded to its full lineup of vocalist/bassist David Greenhill, drummer/programmer Jeff McLeod, keyboardist Jacob Morris, and guitarist/vocalist Donald Bearman. 2004's Palm Fronds, the band's first album as a quartet, featured more streamlined song structures as well as more electronic/musique concrète elements, thanks to a hand injury that prevented McLeod from playing more conventional drums. That fall, the Double toured the U.K. with Blonde Redhead and Interpol and recorded a Peel Session. Early in 2005, the band signed to Matador Records and began work on its third album with producer Steve Revitte, while making time for a South by Southwest appearance and a tour with Ratatat. Gigs with bands as disparate as the Go-Betweens, the Mountain Goats, and Comets on Fire anticipated the fall release of Loose in the Air.