California dream pop collective the Society of Rockets — formerly known as Shimmer Kids Underpop Association — may sound like a hobo version of Spiritualized, but their reverb-drenched odes to loves both won and lost never descend into isolationist art rock excess; rather they wait patiently for the cheap bottle of whiskey to return, thankful that they’re among friends — however few. Sunset Homes is an apt title for their debut, as each track unfolds slowly, languishing in the cradle of its sonic peaks and valleys without a care for the rest of the world. Sustained organs give way to bright accordions while heavily-delayed guitars swirl around Joshua Babcock’s soft vocals on the delicate and lonesome opener, “O, Sing Transformer.” It’s a winning formula that repeats itself throughout the record’s entirety, so when the band picks up some much needed speed on the rollicking “Too Many Thorns in Your Bed of Roses” — complete with Theremin — it’s like a tornado ripping the roof off of a church luncheon. Sunset Homes is part Americana, part chamber pop and all corn silo atmosphere, and its charms, though often buried beneath a mountain of analogue echo, are blissfully un-pretentious, sweetly understated and many. – James Christopher Monger
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