Have you heard of this band, The Unicorns? They ain’t around anymore, but the wild and crazy kids (you guys are all too young) of Sleeping In The Aviary are more than happy to fill their shoes. Absurdist and funny “whimsy pop” that, while rooted by accessible indie structure, feels completely ad-libbed. Unlikely narratives, islandy uke, doowop vox, fun percussion, lots of rando stuff thrown in, rubber chicken style, to make you smile. Playful, light, bizarre and cheery “super-queer” (their own words!) indie rock. Venture past the recommended tracks. This whole album is satisfyingly ridorkulous.

Note: Their website is, oh my god. Oh my god. It’s sleepingintheaviary.com. Just, just do it.

RIYL: The Unicorns, old White Stripes, Neutral Milk Hotel

try: 3, 6, 2, 10
no FCCs

1. weird surround-sound noise for the first ~10 sec. then super-relaxed synth lines and drawly vox. gentle backing uke and fuzzy outburst electric. nice water-bubbly shimmery bridge.
*2. relaxed, midtempo. lazy-by-the-pond sound... with lyrics about floating around in space. uke, vibraslap, bells. gentle, drifty, super chill. ‘la’s.
*3. bouncy fast rockin’ old-LA sound. pink cadillac, etc. gots that shimmer guitar! nice stripped-down vox.
4. nuts! accordion! horns! lasers! noise! bursts into luau country sway (whistles, steel guitar) with, erm, an unexpected storyline: “she forgot the safety word and now she’s dead.” oh dear.
5. slow, lilty, dramatic, slow dance pomp. accordion, uke, etc. the title says it all: ship’s going down, let’s fuck in the crow’s nest.
*6. glammy! fast gakk guitar, woo-woo backing vox, finger snaps. dance like an idiot! breakup revenge plot afoot.
7. slooo-mooo. a nodder. really, reeeally mellow. sleepy, saddish, shimmery.
8. ~30 sec intro. then: distant quick chord-hit saloon piano. echoey, fuzzy. female vox. nice pomp bass. sounds like carousel music.
9. slow, shimmery, sustain. female vox. twaaang. slow open hi-hat kit. tightens up a minute in with a cute indie rock melody. builds into a little sonatra opera. could fade out the last whole minute, if desired.
*10. funny folky mid-slow banjo + acoustic narrative about dying and waiting to get into heaven. feelin’ the white stripes. sounds like a good old southern christian revival hymnal. builds up into a great steel + bells + washboard honker. “they told me i’d be fine and the very next day i died!”
11. ~45 sec of silence (start 6:00 to end). then: slow 80s synth, warm lasers and hilarious falsetto. lost soft rock hit of the... no, never mind. this is actually great.