The Blinding Lights

So many previously unfashionable pop genres have come into indie-rock vogue in recent years that it's tough telling who's being ironic. But The Blinding Lights sound sincere in their summoning of mellow, '70s singer-songwriter folk-pop introspection. The Milwaukee trio's sound jibes with the current spate of soft, kind sounds on several commercial radio formats. At their best, they infuse their wistful sunniness with an underlying sense of groove. It's rarely anything that screams for club remixes (screaming of any sort seems beyond the band's aesthetic), but it's enough to give their otherwise ephemeral sweetness sonic gravitas. The Lights could benefit from imbuing their sound with more aural weight and animation, but, for a debut album, the band goes a fair way in defining a unique, yet comfortingly familiar, approach. <p align="right" style="text-align: right;"><br /></p>