Murmurations

With their 2012 EP Murmurations, the Los Angeles (by way of Portland) folk-rockers offer a serving of six songs tracked during the sessions booked to record their 2011 album Yearling. The timelessly elegant “Another Chance” opens, sounding like a hatchling from The Byrds’ cover of Pete Seeger’s “Turn! Turn! Turn!" That electric 12-string jangle carries over to the following “Peace in the Valley,” this time with a twangy pedal steel mixed in under closely sung harmonies that all culminate to sound like a cross between Younger Than Yesterday and Sweetheart of the Rodeo. The band’s own tones come to life in the poppy “Long Way Back,” where subtle Hammond organ notes accompany tambourine, a buoyant bass, and the radiant vocals of Evan and Brette Marie Way. The slow and smoldering “Jenny” starts with electric guitar strumming and cello while Evan sings a narrative about an emotionally tortured muse. Evan’s vocal phrasing in “Here It Comes Again” sounds inspired by early Tom Petty before the band comes in and makes it an original standout.