Imagine four non-surfing beach boys (and one beach girl) lying in the sand dunes gazing up at the stars idly reflecting on what the future may have in store for them.
This sums up the musical mood of this debut album from a Brooklyn-based quintet of classically trained musicians who give the impression that they spend their days in a protected cocoon where none of the bad stuff intrudes.
"Time is a hole in my waterbed" laments Eliza Bagg on Ran Ran Run which makes you wonder how they can cope with such trauma!
Since the concluding track is entitled 2020, We'll Have Nothing Going On the lack of physical activity or stress doesn't appear to pose any problems.
This is one of two tracks to mention "disco kicks" (the other being Annie Hall) although the quirky and clever time signatures mean that dance friendliness never appears to be high on the agenda.
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The band's musical vision is democratically organized so that there's no obvious leader and an equal division of their talents. The collective sound exudes harmony, intelligence and elegance but is, unfortunately, also rather dull.
The atonal one minute instrumental title track is the one sore thumb moment in all the smug, summery niceness. The rest drifts along prettily yet without any real sense of urgency or drama.
Another instrumental, A Quiet Time With Spaceman Sputz, is positively soporific.
As a soundtrack for daydreamers this is all fine and dandy but it's a poor return for an album which, according to their PR, is supposed to describe the "magic and panic of adult life".
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