The Vanderbuilts are on the brink of releasing a second full-length album, and if “I Wish I Was A Saber Toothed Tiger” is any indication, it will be a hell of a lot of fun.

The genre-fusing Syracuse band returns a year after their first full-length album, “Miguel’s Orchard,” with a new incarnation of their energetically offbeat sound.

The single is a taste of their upcoming second album “What We Forget,” dropping March 1.

“Saber Toothed Tiger” is a bolder, more confidently layered mix of their undefined style: guitar and bass riffs blended with banjo, keyboard and violin, overlaid with lead singer and guitarist Sam Kogon’s smooth vocal presence — ranging from calm storyteller to belting out in soulful exasperation.

It kicks off with a methodical and instantly catchy guitar progression, quickly complemented by light banjo plucks, before diving into lyrics rich with nature, spiritual and animal imagery. Once they add Aya Yamamoto’s sharp violin and Dave Riddell’s array of lively keyboard arrangements, the quirky folk-twanged ballad spurs into a bouncy combo of fast-paced verses and high-pitched choruses.

The fun, easygoing tone in “Saber Toothed Tiger” is a more polished continuation of the playful atmosphere created in some of their best songs from “Miguel’s Orchard,” like “She Takes The Cake” and “I’m Coming Home.” The enjoyable, repeating rhythm progression definitely gives the song an irresistible, stuck-in-your-head quality.

The vibe feels like a trippy, prehistoric spin on “Where The Wild Things Are.” Admittedly, the band’s main inspiration for the album is director Werner Herzog’s wondrous 2010 documentary, “Cave of Forgotten Dreams.” Kogon’s pondering vocals muse on “deep forests” and “great spirits” through the metaphorical eyes of a primordial tiger.

The song comes paired with a playfully imaginative music video, incorporating stop motion and claymation, meshed with natural elements taken from Kogon’s own taxidermy collection.

It opens with a quick shot of a perceived black dreamscape, with faint spirals of color streaming in the background. A misshapen ball of clay soon appears, drifting through a scribbled world of darting eyes, rolling trees and hills and kaleidoscopic patterns.

The clay blob morphs into manifestations of different animals, sprouting claws and fur, yet the abstract representation never quite realizes the image of a fully formed saber-toothed tiger roaming the trance-like plain.

The Vanderbuilts’ vibrant new pseudo-hymn marks another step for the thriving band, which also includes bassist Max Newland and drummer Grennan Milliken. They started with modest beginnings back in 2010 with a win at a Battle of the Bands competition not a month after forming. After their 2011 EP “Far From Here,” followed by “Miguel’s Orchard” in 2012, the band went on an extensive tour of the Northeast, with several stops in New York City.

They have a warm and unorthodox stage presence, too. The band is all smiles as Kogon and Riddell switch back and forth between vocals, lead, guitar and keyboard, with Yamamoto fiddling away beside them.

Now back in Syracuse, and after a busy few months of recording, “What We Forget” is finally here.

Published on February 13, 2013 at 10:52 pm

Contact Rob: rjmarvin@syr.edu