Strike Gently

Echoes of Dire Straits and The Cars bounce around Strike Gently, but The Virgins offer something fresh in this familiar rock 'n' roll milieu: a breezy nonchalance that melds those '70s sounds with the New York coolness that oozed from their 2007 debut EP. On the Brooklyn band's 2008 self-titled LP, The Virgins cared not a whit that, in real life, The Strokes would likely launch spitballs at Tom Petty in the lunchroom given the chance. But it appears Petty won that fight to influence The Virgins; Strike Gently is significantly easier and breezier, more seductive than aggressive (think Local Natives or Vampire Weekend). Donald Cumming lets loose with a yelp, then a croon, lowering his gravelly voice to something worn and comforting, the way Petty does with his all-American pipes. The production here is stellar, with crackling edges and solid white spaces around and between the sharp guitars, crisp and to-the-point percussion, and arrangements so radio-friendly you'd swear you heard them in the car last night, driving home (alone, again).