Robbers On High Street Crystal Run

It was when the horn section kicked in on "Crystal Run," the second track off Hey There Golden Hair, that I knew I was going to really like this album. The third LP from Brooklyn band Robbers On High Street, Hey There Golden Hair plays like a love-child between the tapestry-like Americana of Blitzen Trapper and the over-the-top awesomeness of some of my favorite pop rock from the 60s and 70s. The kind of pop rock that isn't afraid to bring in a whole horn section.

This spirit infuses the album as a whole, even as tracks reference some of the best indie rock of the past decade ("Electric Eye" could be a Spoon track). Still, their obvious modern sensibilities aside, I keep hearing The Beatles in their sound, the Kinks in their quirkiness. Although this tendency to compare the Robbers to other bands is virtually unavoidable, this album does not sound unoriginal. Rather, it's an appreciation of techniques that have worked before, combined and molded to their own particular sensibility.

Hey There Golden Hair comes out September 13; you can stream it on the band's Bandcamp page now.