Little Leaves

The ACBs worked very hard to make Little Leaves — trying different studios, setting their van on fire, discarding an entire finished version — before coming up with coming up with the finished product. The Kansas City band should be glad they worked so hard because the record sounds very good indeed. Based around singer Konnor Ervin's falsetto warble and some damn catchy indie pop songs, the band sounds like an updated version of the American bands who popped up in the wake of the Beatles and played good, solid pop songs with no muss and fuss. Just getting to the point right away and not making a big deal out of it, while filling the dancefloor and beaming out of transistor radios. Those days are gone, of course, but upbeat songs like "Record Store" and "Attic Fan" capture that simple American pop feel perfectly. The guys add some disco basslines, dreamy interludes (there are a handful of lovely ballads like "Feel Winter" and "Lover Yeah" to balance the gentle rockers), and a tiny bit of indie rock weirdness to the mix, just enough to keep things interesting but not enough to go off the rails. Anyone looking for some happy pop with guitars and lots of good cheer could do a lot worse than the ACBs and Little Leaves.