My summer-fun, beach-music this year is totally Telekinesis’ 12 Desperate Straight Lines. I feel like it’s filling the permissible-pop hole that Vampire Weekend left in our indie-rock hearts. I can say that I haven’t really sat down and dissected it, but it’s on a lot sort of in the background when I’m doing other things.

Every time I listen to it while doing something else I get a half-second flash of whoa The Cure, or hey Jane’s Addiction. It’s clear that they are fans of the two and rather referential (to put it mildly). While that bothers me sometimes, and it’s enough to get you kicked off Project Runway, it feels good here, like your favorite hoodie from college that you totally should have gotten rid of by now.

They’re also clearly huge Beatles fans – I felt totally justified when after proclaiming this I found this article saying the same thing. It also mentions Destroyer which I wouldn’t have thought of because Destroyer just kind of passed me by. I’ve never seen them, and I actually fell asleep during a New Pornographers show in 2008, sorry Dan, but it was hot, and I was on painkillers.

Speaking of referential, how Dire Straits is this video?

I’m not sure why I’m being so forgiving of the whole “dude, this is just like!” thing, probably because I saw them live at the Merge and Under the Radar Showcase at SXSW and found them thoroughly enjoyable, and most likely because they make me feel good.  I have so much depressing music, it’s nice to just have something to bop around to.