Download: The Art Museums “Sculpture Garden”

(from Rough Frame out now on Woodsist)

The Art Museums, a two-piece from San Francisco with roots in the city’s psychedelic folk scene from the early aughts, have created an album of seemingly simple tunes that are instantly hypnotizing and captivating. Repeated listening is unavoidable. On this album, the duo, which consists of Josh Alper and Glenn Donaldson (and a drum machine), manages to do the same thing for late ’80s/early ’90s lo-fi that Viva L’American Death Ray Music did for the Velvet Underground, Bowie and ’70s punk: create an album which mines the troughs of their influences yet still manage to make the recordings relevant to the 21st century. And it’s really fucking good. This record recalls hints of Belle and Sebastian, the Clean (or, more precisely, David Kilgour’s post-Clean band the Great Unwashed), Yo La Tengo, and Unrest while also burying its vocals in haunting echo, in the style of their Woodsist buddies. The lyricism of this album also seems much stronger than most tracks I hear these days, though the lack of a lyric sheet leaves room for mystery and imagination. The standout track on this is the opener, “We Can’t Handle It,” on which a pitchy synth intro leads into a sing-along chorus that sounds like an ode to a burnout drummer with a Moe Tucker infatuation! There are plenty of subtleties on this record. Like finding a new flower on your favorite path, each listen brings new surprises.

—Daniel Clodfelter