Melt White

Louisiana-based indie pop outfit Brass Bed's second full-length sounds fueled by endless nights spent rifling through crate after crate of late-'60s/early-'70s vinyl. These Elephant 6 disciples definitely lean harder in the rural neo-psychedelic Elf Power direction than they do toward the boundless experimentation of a project like Olivia Tremor Control, but there’s enough of a sense of “anything goes” on Melt White to lure in pop aficionados with a fetish for the more progressive side of the genre. If anything, the album finds the middle ground between the dreamier side of post-Soft Bulletin-era Flaming Lips and the serpentine hooks tossed into the ether by Philly-based retro rockers Dr. Dog. Standout cuts like the bouncy “Miniature Day Parade,” the pastoral, Laurel Canyon-esque “Maybe it’s Not Me,” and the manic “Bums on the Radio” show that Brass Bed are able to sound relevant while tipping their hats to the wily psych-pop pioneers who came before them.