Los Angeles Guitar Dream is a gleeful dose of sultry indie pop. The EP carries over the eclectic spirit of Spanish Prisoners' 2008 debut, Songs to Forget, even as it finds their sound coalescing around a dancier, more straightforward sound. This subtle shift has been nudged along, no doubt, by the addition of keyboardist Amberly Hungerford, whose icy vocals seem to enfold and complete singer/songwriter Leo Maymind's.
In both their musical and lyrical predilections, the band makes cozy bedfellows with Ann Arbor's Office. Nowhere is this likeness stronger than on the EP's opening track, “Kiss the Lawn Goodbye.” The dramatic starts and stops; the hazy, summer-time guitar; and the lyrical fixation on the mundane details of modern suburban existence recall some of the sexier numbers off of Q&A or A Night at the Ritz. The Antlers' Peter Silberman contributes to the backing vocals; his ghostly wail is barely audible above the acoustic guitar-picking leading up to the song's conclusion, but rises in volume as it builds towards climax.
The title track is the most overtly poppy song on the EP. It opens with a strong dance beat buried under echoing guitar. Hungerford recounts her verses in a languid, husky whisper, drowsing towards the chorus where, in an eyeblink, the song contracts into a funky disco jam. The EP then waxes psychedelic with “Ask Isaac Asimov.” Pairing classical-sounding guitar with a pattering, almost military drum-beat, the song erupts during the chorus into spacey reverb and a Flaming Lips-style vocal harmony.
The three tracks share a pleasant diversity while maintaining cohesion as part of a single work. It's an intriguing taste of what Spanish Prisoners are capable of, a taste that hopefully will be born out in the band's next full-length. All you indie kids looking for meticulously constructed pop songs to queue up at your summer barbecues should take note: Los Angeles Guitar Dream may just be your dream come true.
1. Kiss the Lawn Goodbye
2. Los Angeles Guitar Dream
3. Ask Isaac Asimov
More about: Spanish Prisoners
