From The Apples in Stereo's earliest days in the Elephant Six collective, the band has been a study in contrasts. While frontman Robert Schneider took The Apples down a classic pop path that branched away from his label peers' psych/folk fuzz buzz, the band's live presentation eschewed their studio lushness for a volume-drenched rawness that alienated some fans. When The Apples recorded The Velocity of Sound in 2002, they finally found a way to reconcile their two sonic personas by playing their crystalline pop with the ferocity of a garage band. A lot has transpired in the last five years; Schneider and his wife, drummer Hilarie Sidney, have divorced the band left longtime label Spin Art and signed with actor Elijah Wood's new indie, Simian (imprinted through Yep Roc), and Schneider developed a new musical scale. With all of this turmoil and activity, it seems improbable that The Apples would have the time or energy to create a career-Defining masterwork, but New Magnetic Wonder may well prove to be the pop epic of The Apples' catalog. Moving back toward the pure pop art and craft of their earlier work, Schneider and The Apples reconnect and rewire their original influences , from the Jeff Lynne-fueled rush of "Can You Feel It?" and the Todd Rundgren piano pop of "Same Old Drag" to the Beatlesque bob of "Energy" and the Brian Wilson bounce of "Radiation." A lot of Schneider's earlier experimentalism shows up in short connective musical interludes that he's interwoven throughout New Magnetic Wonder, including a couple of dissonant pieces utilizing his non-Pythagorean scale. While New Magnetic Wonder stands as a stunning achievement for The Apples, it also represents the end of an era, as Sidney (who contributes a pair of gems with "Sunndal Song" and "Sunday Songs") has since left the band to focus on her own project, the High Water Marks. Time and tide will tell if Schneider and his soon-to-be reconstituted Apples in Stereo continue to pursue the mad indie pop science of New Magnetic Wonder, return to the visceral blurt of The Velocity of Sound or find an even surreal option beyond them both.

-Brian Baker