The Boggs: Forts

It was one thing for The Boggs' Jason Friedman to have Hot Chip remix his song "Arm In Arm" last year, but in what appears to be a frantic scramble to dodge some indie-folk pigeonhole, his new Forts has rejected the rootsier feel of his prior work in favor of a delirious clutter of instruments and noises. Which would be great if it didn't feel so forced and gratuitous at times. Much of the album is overarranged and labored to the point of malfunction. Forts' best moments are its simplest: "The Passage" employs only heartbeat percussion, entwined moans, and some ghostly blues fretwork to weave its atmosphere. Overall, though, finding the formidable songcraft buried in Forts is like fishing a lost toy out of a thorn bush.