New Indie Releases

Feelin' California

Best Coast: Crazy for You (Mexican Summer)
Best Coast's debut is like a teenage love letter sealed with a sandy kiss. Vocalist Bethany Cosentino is, like, a totally boy-crazy sun-worshiper. She must constantly daydream of holding hands along the boardwalk, because — with multi-instrumentalist bandmate Bobb Bruno — she has written the ideal soundtrack for it. She's a little bit bratty Liz Phair, a little bit girl-group ingenue, a little bit giddy Go-Go. And she doesn't beat around the bush: her love declarations come in the form of breezy, fuzzy, succinct pop; only the moody, Hole-ish "Honey" hits the three-minute mark. — Stephanie Benson

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Admiral Radley: I Heart California (The Ship)
Call 2010 the year of California lovin': chillwave, surf rock, sunshine pop — it's all over the indie map. Golden State natives Admiral Radley plop themselves right into the lovefest with their debut. They have fun with the concept, singing about fake boobs, sunburn and Tijuana drunkenness, but there are some great heartfelt moments, too ("The Thread," "I Left U Cuz I Luft U"). This is, after all, Jason Lytle and Aaron Burtch (of Grandaddy) and Ariana Murray and Aaron Espinoza (of Earlimart), acts more inclined to write about the pain of melancholia than melanoma. — S.B.

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Wavves: King of the Beach (Fat Possum Records)
After Nathan Williams experienced backlash following a midshow meltdown in 2009, he could easily have used this album to burn naysayers. Instead he makes some wise moves: he recruits the late Jay Reatard's backing band — which adds a punky Beach Boys vibe — and plays up his role as a self-loathing slacker. He proclaims himself "King of the Beach," then an idiot and a person whose friends hate his guts. All of this ego warfare goes down amid a backdrop of California cool, where playful beats and sha-la-las frolic in wiggly reverb. Never has self-deprecation seemed so sunny and blithe. — S.B.

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Baths: Cerulean (Anticon)
Inspired by an encounter with Daedelus, Baths is Will Wiesenfeld's contribution to Los Angeles' leftfield beat scene. Adopting the crumpled breakbeats of artists like Prefuse 73, Flying Lotus and Daedelus himself, Baths distinguishes itself with sunny, psychedelic melodies and acoustic instrumentation like viola, contrabass and guitar, sampled and looped into delicate filigrees. Somewhere between Animal Collective and J Dilla, it's restlessly inventive and brimming with joy. — Philip Sherburne


Feelin' Nostalgic

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti: Before Today (4AD)
A longtime lingerer in lo-fi, Ariel Pink ups the production values and releases his best album to date. Before Today touches on a wealth of retro influences; if you didn't know better, you could guess this was an underground classic from the '70s. Subtle, psychedelic pop that has everyone from Pink Floyd to The Moody Blues to Hall & Oates to thank, Before Today moves with the fluidity of a lava lamp, smooth and hypnotizing, sometimes flowing in unpredictable directions. "Round and Round" would be a hit single if we were all still spinning vinyl and picking out shag carpeting. — S.B.

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Dean & Britta: 13 Most Beautiful: Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests (Double Feature Records)
The Andy Warhol museum chose Dean & Britta to put together a touring show of Warhol's silent screen tests with his Factory friends and colleagues. The resulting songs — which fall somewhere between the couple's old band Luna and The Velvet Underground — are so languorously dreamy they nearly create movies on their own. Britta coos Dylan's "I'll Keep It With Mine"; Dean goes street-bound on the V.U. rarity "Not a Young Man Anymore," then gets Penthouse classy with "It Don't Rain in Beverly Hills." This two-disc set offers synthed-up remixes and more style than an Eyes of Laura Mars floor show. — Nick Dedina

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Department of Eagles: Archive 2003-2006 (American Dust)
Like Daniel Rossen's other group, Grizzly Bear, Department of Eagles have progressed from a bare-bones folktronica experiment to a full-fledged indie-pop band. The growth of Rossen and bandmate Fred Nicolaus is tracked on this collection of previously unreleased material recorded between their debut, The Cold Nose, and 2008's exceptional In Ear Park. The five iterations of "Practice Room Sketch" offer a minimalist glimpse into the early stages of a song. The highlights, though, are worthy of single status: the McCartney-esque "Brightest Minds" and standout "While We're Young." — S.B.

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Various Artists: Twistable, Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein (Sugar Hill Records)
This loving tribute bypasses many of Shel Silverstein's biggest hits (recorded by others) but it does include reworkings of the classics "A Boy Named Sue," "The Cover of the Rolling Stone" and "The Ballad of Lucy Jordon." The collection mixes Silverstein's mature songs with his thematically rich kids' tunes. At its best, his material is twistable enough to get transformed by others. Andrew Bird's tuneful melancholy bleeds into the title track, while Dr. Dog kicks off "The Unicorn" with a Beach Boys tribute. Old Silverstein pals Bobby Bare, Kris Kristofferson and John Prine also do fine work. — N.D.

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Teenage Fanclub: Shadows (Merge Records)
Five years after their last release, Teenage Fanclub offer up more bittersweet power guitar pop from three distinct songwriting talents. The band is still refining its sound — many of the songs on Shadows take woozy, orchestral detours that will please anyone with an affection for Love or forgotten acts like The Blades of Grass or modern indie bands like The Clientele. There is a consistency of vision, yet every tune is distinct. Highlights? This is Teenage Fanclub — every song sounds like it belongs on the radio. — N.D.


Feelin' Pensive:

Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse: Dark Night of the Soul (Capitol)
This album has all kinds of ghosts in its wake. Before its official release in 2010, a label dispute kept it off shelves, and, tragically, both Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse) and guest Vic Chesnutt took their own lives. Linkous, as talented as he was insecure, wrote the songs with Danger Mouse, but didn't feel comfortable singing them. Thus a cast of indie elite (and director David Lynch) offered up vocals. The set is as haunting and ominous as its backstory, but it's never without a subtle upbeat grace, a quality unique to Linkous' songwriting and one that each vocalist is careful to uphold. Guests include: The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne, The Strokes' Julian Casablancas, Broken Bells'/The Shins' James Mercer, Grandaddy/Admiral Radley's Jason Lytle, Iggy Pop, and more. — S.B.

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Various Artists: 180 South Soundtrack (Brushfire Records)
180 South traces Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins' harrowing 1968 journey to Patagonia. The soundtrack has a similar feel to Eddie Vedder's Into the Wild, capturing the loneliness and freedom of men with only survival on their mind and adrenaline in their blood. Isaac Brock brings back his Ugly Casanova moniker and eschews some of his signature shrewd lyrics in favor of somber hums and nimble picks; The Shins' James Mercer does the same for "Doug's Theme," then provides a poignant ballad with "Journey Through the Past"; Mason Jennings, Jack Johnson and Love As Laughter also contribute. — S.B.

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Stars: The Five Ghosts (Vagrant Records)
A decade before countless bands were going for the retro synth-pop sound, Stars had already mastered it — and already drifted away from it. But it's always been the quality of Stars' songs — hook-laden but rarely hokey — and Torquil Campbell's cutting narratives that really stick; Stars are more like Morrissey, Lloyd Cole and Terry Hall than Men Without Hats. Set Yourself on Fire remains their masterwork, but this feels like their commercial crossover. Stars' sweet/sour duets and anthemic chamber-pop aesthetic haven't changed that much — everyone else is just finally catching up with them. — N.D.