Album review: LavaLove – Tan Lines

Is it summer yet? In LavaLove’s world, every day is a day to lie on the beach and bask in the sun. Each song on their debut album courses with the sort of solar-powered energy that could only be a Californian export, with a vintage quality like a film reel of a carefree time long in the past. There’s an ineffable charm about it, not to mention a sunny escapism, even if the quintet end up over-egging it at points.

LavaLove are painting scenes of their girlhood, with a feminine twist to their brand of surf-rock. At points, it’s like they’ve imagined what it would sound like if Sabrina Carpenter chose a life of rock music instead of pop. The jiving opener Hopelessly Devoted is a frantic joyride through the giddy rush and inevitable crash of infatuation, while Go Go Boots flaunts its playfulness well with its catchy cruise through their local bars. ‘Tequila, Bacardi, tomorrow I’ll be sorry / I just want to spend your money!’

There’s also more serious shades in here, with the cooler tones of the title-track and the punkier Messing With The Man clapping back at capitalism and sexism. Sniffin’ Around, however, goes for a different slant, twisting their usual sweetness into something morbid by hinting coyly at a murder story – ‘My baby’s just feeling so down / He’s five feet underground’. It’s a deft touch.

How much Tan Lines will endear itself might be based on your musical sugar tolerance, though. The cutesier moments will not be for everybody, and it sometimes comes off more juvenile than intended. The treacly Motion Picture’s constant valley girl ‘Uh-huh’s and ‘Wooos’ do get quite sickly, but it’s even more pronounced on the cavity-inducing closer Shot, where baby-voiced intonations of ‘Snuggle me’ and ‘Tickle me’ might make you wish you’d hit ’stop’ sooner.

It’s a bizarrely off-kilter ending for what is mostly a solid debut, which is often cleverer stylistically than first appears. With a little more growth and maturity, they could really be cooking something.

Verdict: 3/5

For fans of: Momma, Turnstile, Rocket

Tan Lines is released April 3 via Pure Noise