Octoberland
Big Stir, 2024
10/10
The Burbank indie-pop outfit The Armoires make an impression with this 4th album that might just remind you of Belle & Sebastian, The Sundays, or even The New Pornographers.
“We Absolutely Mean It” starts the 11 tracks with Larysa Bulbenko’s stunning viola alongside the retro, folk songwriting, and “This One’s For The Swedes” follows with Rex Broome's animated guitar strumming and Christina Bulbenko's inviting pipes that welcome synth, too.
In the middle, “Green Hellfire At The 7-11” tips its hat to cow-punk via the charming jangle, while the cozy keys of “Here Comes The Song” presents harmonic singing in an intimate and soaring album highlight that embraces chamber ideas.
Approaching the end, “Snake Island Thirteen” has Bulbenko singing with passion about her ancestral homeland of Ukraine, and “Music & Animals” exits with a lively rhythm section, fluid vocal harmonies and emotive strings.
An album that could have been made in any decade since the ‘60s, The Armoires blend psyche-pop, twee-pop and dream-rock into a hook filled affair that’s superb.
Travels well with: Blakes Jones & The Trike Shop- and still…; Sparkle* Jets U.K.- Box Of Letters