On Leftover Cuties’ Places to Go, the band plays jazz-pop that could be described facilely under the umbrella descriptor of “old timey,” the kind of music that frequently features a ukulele and/or a muted trumpet, squeezebox and brushed drums, occasionally borrowing some melodic flourishes from gypsy folk. The website name checks Billie Holliday, the closest antecedent to lead singer Shirli McAllen’s vocal style. But while the instrumentation on Places to Go may hearken to an earlier age, the production and songwriting is unmistakably contemporary. The closest modern musical comparison might be Inara George’s recent collaboration with Van Dyke Parks, the music of the Living Sisters and especially the breezier moments of She & Him on tracks like “Places to Go” and “Should’ve Left You.” Though the majority of the melodies stay pretty light, lyrically the album is mainly preoccupied with longing, regret and the bittersweet wistfulness of lost loves, and it is at these most melancholy moments that Leftover Cuties achieve their greatest emotional impact. The band’s dichotomy is best expressed in the final two songs. Penultimate tune “Sunnyside” could sell a thousand iPods with its jaunty bounce, tack piano and lyrics like “No use feeling down/get rid of that frown,” only to be followed by closer, “I Miss You,” a song dripping so tangibly with the struggle of loss that it practically forces an reinterpretation of “Sunnyside” as ironic. Places to Go manages to be both a good summer album and a good breakup album, no easy feat.

-Tom Child