Unlearn

It’s as if Fergus & Geronimo (Andrew Savage and Jason Kelly) set out to test the patience of even the most stalwart new music fan. The Brooklyn-by-way-of-Texas duo’s debut, Unlearn, is both playful and vexing, and they don’t deliver their rewards easily. The head scratching assortment of styles here are all well done enough: a handful of tunes ring amazingly close to New Zealand’s Clean, like star track “Girls With English Accents” (jangly, early Clean) and “Michael Kelly” (modern day, psych-pop Clean), while others touch on ‘60s garage pop (“Harder Than It’s Ever Been”), Sam Cook-era soul and doo-wop (“Powerful Lovin,” “Unlearn”), and even Frank Zappa (the scathing “Baby Boomer,” “Reprise”). But when the duo stay in their indie-psych-pop groove — think Sonny & The Sunsets or White Fence — they seem utterly at home. The snaking, feral “Walls Are Made of Grass,” the rickety “The World Never Stops,” and the hilariously snarky “Wanna Know What I Would Do?” are ridiculously clever, fun, and are especially well suited for cranking up in a crowded house party, in the wee hours of the morning.