Sea Lions – Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sea Lions But Were Afraid to Ask

Slumberland Records seems intent on making up for lost time as long as the underground continues to generate top-notch slabs of their brand of crash pop. Their seal of approval remains a reliable signifier.

Continuing the resurgent Slumberland parade is the more standard-issue but still appealing Sea Lions, who move the rapid-strum guitars back to the forefront, dial up the twee quotient and wear their influences on their sleeves – these LA youngsters even christened their suburban scene The Sound of Young Oxnard, a cheeky reference to the old Postcard Records slogan. These fifteen ultra-compact tunes include genuine thrills like the Wedding Present knockoff “I Should Be Sleeping” and the Orange Juice homage “A Cloud,” but leader Adrian Pillardo’s flat and detached vocals (even by indie standards, perhaps channeling Beat Happening’s Calvin Johnson) relegate Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sea Lions… to second shelf status.

Sea Lions
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sea Lions But Were Afraid to Ask
[Slumberland]