I\u2019m a sucker for summer albums \u2014 those sunny samples of washed out guitars, beaming beats and sing-along lyrics \u2013 and recently I\u2019ve had plenty to smile about. Best Coast, Sleigh Bells and to a lesser extent The Ting Tings have all dropped albums which epitomize the carefree spirit of the season \u2014 complete with a bit of attitude and female singers who come across so hot they\u2019re cool, so cool they\u2019re hot (apologies to Dave Wakeling).<\/p>\n
Entering the fray is Sacramento\u2019s Soft Science with its debut Highs And Lows, an instantly likable mix of jubilant hooks and merry melodies. Just two listens in I caught myself singing, enthralling in the sweet voice of Katie Haley (who runs neck and neck with Best Coast\u2019s Bethany Cosentino for the role as California\u2019s next great musical darling).<\/p>\n
So yes, I like this album, but after listening to the first song, I thought I was going to love it. \u201cWhen Will You Come Home\u201d is a stunning opener, a two-minute blast conjoining the modern pop tones of these newer bands with the reverb and vigor of noise-rock masters My Bloody Valentine and Jesus and Mary Chain. I stopped still, thinking someone finally managed to take MBV\u2019s dour shoegaze and add the festive dichotomy only a vivacious female singer can.<\/p>\n
Alas, the band does not maintain this pace throughout, returning to the typical territory you expect from an indie band called Soft Science (no, not loving the name). But it remains engaging for the most part. \u201cCloser to Me\u201d sustains fuzzy guitar mode, while \u201cSomething To Go On\u201d is a guilty pleasure of churning guitars and longing lyrics (Oh how I tried to survive\/ Without me passing your mind\/ Please won\u2019t you send me a sign\/ Something to go on). It makes a great anthem for those high school sweethearts who split midway through freshman year when attending separate colleges.<\/p>\n
While \u201cLast Time\u201d is the album\u2019s one true clunker, songs such as \u201cPut Your Arms Around Me\u201d and the album ending \u201cCould It Ever Be True\u201d right the ship in fine fashion. Soft Science is a band of proper potential, and with Highs and Lows has captured a certain zeal. I see nothing but shining days ahead for this foursome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019m a sucker for summer albums \u2014 those sunny samples of washed out guitars, beaming beats and sing-along lyrics \u2013 and recently I\u2019ve had plenty to smile about. Best Coast, Sleigh Bells and to a lesser extent The Ting Tings have all dropped albums which epitomize the carefree spirit of the season \u2014 complete with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1536,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[491,489],"class_list":["post-1535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-highs-and-lows","tag-soft-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1535"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1537,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1535\/revisions\/1537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}