The new album from Nap Eyes, I'm Bad Now, out on Friday via Paradise of Bachelors, is a fine blast of reliable indie-pop. If the tunes here are not quite as modestly adventurous as those on earlier releases by the band, the songs are uniformly pleasant and affecting.
The first few songs on the record, including the title cut and "Roses", mine a vein of alt-rock that suggests huge debts owed to The Velvet Underground, The Feelies, and Yo La Tengo. It's only on the more twang-y "Follow Me Down" that things get varied ever so slightly. The track, like so many here, recalls artists like Ultimate Painting and even that solo record from A. Savage (Parquet Courts), but Nap Eyes manage to turn this sort of stuff into largely pleasant indie-pop. Elsewhere, the 2 longer cuts that end I'm Bad Now see Nap Eyes try on an even more languid form of their brand of music, with the results being very much in line with the work of the bands that have so clearly inspired this group.
Nap Eyes are not out to change the form, but they do manage to make a moderately-invigorating brand of indie, even granting that even a semi-astute listener can detect the reference points with ease. I'm Bad Now is out on Friday via Paradise of Bachelors. More details on Nap Eyes via the band's official Facebook page, or their official website.
[Photo: Matthew Parri Thomas]