Download: Pearl Harbor “Luv Goon”

(from the Something About The Chaparrals EP out now on Mexican Summer)

Like the sirens of lore, Pearl Harbor enchant and mesmerize listless sailors who have perhaps spent too much time bobbing along on the empty seas of the Los Angeles music scene. With a sound like a daydream and the sweetness of ice cream, the hometown trio—sisters Piper and Sky on vocals/keys and guitar with Cody on bass—enshrine the listener in a shimmering blanket of phased-out guitar lines, nostalgia-triggering drum machines, warped synthesizers and (I wish they all could be) “California Girls” vocal harmonies. The result is a timeless, euphoric, out-of-mind release. Something About the Chaparrals delivers a druggy dreamscape of hot summer sands, glistening waves, underwater treasures and sapphire skies as captured on VHS home video. “Sunburn,” the opening title (and—to my knowledge—the band’s first composition), has a lively pop feel reminiscent of the Feelies’ “The Good Earth.” “Luv Goon” continues down the poppy path with one of my favorite opening guitar lines to date, but seems more wistful and moody. The final two—“High Road” (not a Feelies cover) and “MLO”—are far more subdued and morose, drawing from Cocteau Twins and Factory Records yet never losing the bright delayed guitar lines and charming out-to-sea vocals that are PH’s trademark. Have yourself a nice puff of California’s finest and enjoy this album the way it was meant to be.

—Miles Michaud