Ears Wide Open: Dream Boys

2

dreamboys1

It’s a marriage made in pop heaven. The debut album from L.A.-based quartet Dream Boys conjoins the woozy wonder of West Coast psych-pop with the jangling innocence of the British indie movement – a ’60s-meets-’80s-meets-now formula that will leave guitar purists a bit giddy, if not scrambling to dig out all those C86 compilations. The self-titled “Dream Boys,” due Sept. 17 on Art Fag Recordings, is the work of one Scotsman and three Americans; singer-guitarist Wallace Meek, a native of Glasgow, was last spotted in Neverever with his wife Jihae. Meek is joined by singer-guitarist Wayne Faler, singer-bassist Will Ivy and drummer Mike La Franchi on 10 harmony-laden tunes that recall, at various junctures, the La’s, the Bluetones, Teenage Fanclub, the Chills and Rain Parade. All of which make for pretty good company. The album even starts with a lovely guitar bit and the lyric, “Here she comes …” A reply to “There She Goes?” We’ll take it.

||| Download: “Born Yesterday”