The new album from Rays, You Can Get There From Here, out today on Trouble in Mind Records, is the sort of thing that bears favorable comparison to The Feelies and even Comet Gain. The tunes here from this Oakland band are effervescent and full of spiky energy.
Songs like "The Big One" bristle in a charming way, while longer numbers like "To The Fire" bear the faintest traces of Pavement about them. Elsewhere, "Around The Town" makes one think of early offerings from The Go-Betweens, while the tuneful "Yesterday's Faces" reminded me of a number from a band like EZTV or even Expert Alterations, all worthy C86-hooks wrapped up in a big alt-pop package. At their very best here, Rays blend a whole lot of fairly obvious influences into fresh, riveting indie, even as a few numbers ("Work of Art", "Ray Johnson") suggest a rougher path that this group could pursue, hints of The Kinks and Richard Hell brushing up against each other.
You Can Get There From Here is out today via Trouble in Mind Records.
More details on the band's official Tumblr.
[Photo: Troy Hewitt]