Gardens & Villa

Damn good New Wave inspired indie pop. Five friends out of Santa Barbara who could be covering the Pet Shop Boys or Phoenix, depending on your record collection. Electronic drums, rock flute, chilly synth, and delicate falsetto. Tightly produced, plastic fantastic. Their debut release.

I can’t quite figure these kids out. They remind me a lot of Amazing Baby, but they’re also really... retro. Like Talking Heads retro. They storm onstage with their squirrelly Smiths haircuts and suddenly their perhaps twelve-year-old keyboardist who should be modeling CK underwear is pumping twin tambourines like dumbbells in a Jane Fonda workout tape. The fuck? Then there’s the falsetto, the Vogue poses, the dramatic hair flips, the Duran Duran cheesiness, the edgy and ambiguous sexuality. Are they a young Depeche Mode or what?

Hint: When I saw these guys open for The Generationals, they encored (yes, you read that right: the openers encored) with a cover of Gary Numan’s “Cars”. And they deserved it.

RIYL: Amazing Baby, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., MGMT, Phoenix, Princeton

try: 7, 10, 1, 2, 3
no FCCs

*1. (4:47) dampered timekeeper synth, twinkly keys, falsetto. super chilly, yet sweet. tight & atmospheric.
*2. (3:07) slinky & steamy. downbeat, achey, pouty. xylo keys and deep drums.
*3. (2:12) the soul sister to fleetwood mac’s ‘dreams’. it’s not just the flute, i swear. handclappy acoustic, hippie lyrics, mystic keys, hella vibes.
4. (4:21) downbeat, funky, falsetto. fat electronic drums (see: warble/slide whistle effects).
5. (3:17) rapidfire muddy synth & bloop effects. busy boppy shuffle. a bit of ‘scary monsters’-era bowie.
6. (5:30) slooooow. ‘ah’s, slow piano and tambourine. airy, achey and pretty, if you have the time.
*7. (4:31) dancey pushy synth bass + impossibly awesome ‘cymbal crash’ electronic drum hits. easy midtempo, but has a galloping, windswept feel.
8. (3:29) upfront trilly native-ish flute. empty hall piano. super slow. eleanor rigbyish.
9. (4:43) whistling & occasional twang electric. slow lilty falsetto vox. languid ‘oh’s.
*10. (4:18) powerful, and takes its time. fingerpicked acoustic over claves, then dark, rich synth backing. oh, and flute.