Young At Love and Life

“It doesn’t take much for me to get caught up in a reverie,” sings Ryan Lynch on “About My Girls,” and he and Hannah Hunt find different ways of showing how true this is on Dominant Legs' summery debut EP, Young at Love and Life. On the aforementioned song and the title track, the duo serves up bright, synth-driven pop that’s as danceable as it is innocent, conjuring a sweetly nostalgic sound that recalls Lefse labelmates Neon Indian minus some of the narcotic haze. Lynch is also Girls’ guitarist, and while Young at Love and Life shares some of that band’s effortless, slightly ramshackle way with melodies, Dominant Legs are a much gentler outfit. In fact, Hunt and Lynch may be most intriguing on the EP’s moodier tracks. “Clawing Out at the Walls” blends hand drums, flute, and acoustic guitar with a bassline straight out of Motown, making for an intriguing collision of soul, folk, and indie pop. “Run Like Hell for Leather” is even more distinctive, adding drum programming and electronic washes that evoke Arthur Russell's electro-acoustic avant pop. Throughout it all, Lynch and Hunt's voices complement each other perfectly, his tremulous vocals softened by her sugary ones. This EP shows that Dominant Legs are indeed quite young, and sometimes it’s hard to tell if the way they jump from sound to sound is experimentation or just seeing what sticks. Nevertheless, Young at Love and Life packs a lot of promise into its 16 minutes.