Vivian Girls: Share the Joy

Label: Polyvinyl

Three albums in and the Vivian Girls continue to remind us why they're the ones to beat when it comes to fuzzed-out garage pop. The songs on Share the Joy always have memorable melodies shining through the haze, and revel in their '60s influences while still sounding fresh. The wistful single "I Heard You Say" is one of the band's catchiest songs yet, brimming with hooks and lush vocal harmonies. They serve up perfect slices of classic pop in the infectiously cheerful sock-hop anthem "Dance (If You Wanna)" and the cheeky  "Take It As It Comes," while the powerful "Lake House" and "Trying to Pretend" ditch the retro act in favor of storming drums, raucous guitar and haunting vocals. The girls also show that they can break the three-minute pop song mold by opening and closing the album with six-minute epics, giving us even more reasons to fall in love with them all over again.