It’s easy to write off indie-pop as an insular scene plagued by cutsiness, but then an album like Rocketship’s reminds us what the genre can do. A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness takes sweet ’60s-style pop (somewhat precious and cute, of course), and layers it with droning analog organs and waves of ringing guitars; Rocketship sounds nothing like Stereolab or My Bloody Valentine, but the feelings they evoke are similar. The album is one of the finest pieces of “bedroom music” to come from its scene, thanks to its bright, intensely happy sound and the great songwriting which works perfectly with it. – Nitsuh Abebe