Kevin Bronson on April 21st, 2011

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Milo Greene was actually born several years back at UC Irvine, where Robbie Arnett, Andrew Heringer and Marlana Sheetz were students. “He was a fictional character who used to send out promotional e-mails on our behalf,” Arnett says with a laugh.

Later, when a new musical project gelled between the trio, along with Curtis Marrero (Arnett’s former bandmate in Links) and Graham Fink (formerly of the Outline), Milo Greene was reincarnated. And it’s quite a life he has: The music of the new L.A. quintet blends two-, three- and four-part harmonies, serpentine folk-pop melodies and agitated beats into songs that rejoice a little, ache a little and leave sepia-toned images in your head when they’re through. Sonically, they’re working at the midpoint between Local Natives and Delta Spirit.

||| Download: “1957”

Milo Greene’s songs took shape slowly after the members’ college days – Heringer and Sheetz, working in the Bay Area, traded demos with Links’ Arnett until they got together at various remote locations for brainstorming sessions. “It’s been kind of our nature to get away from the city, find someplace with no Internet or TV,” Arnett says. “We sit down, pour ourselves some Rice Krispies and write some songs.”

Their first, “1957,” isn’t about the calendar year; it’s the address of a house Heringer and Sheetz subletted. As Milo Greene has begun to play live shows, the tender “Autumn Tree” has become a favorite, along with the swooning “Don’t You Give Up on Me.” With more than a dozen songs in their catalog now, they are taking tings slowly, with no firm plans yet for a release.

||| Live: Milo Greene performs May 16 at the Bootleg as part of White Arrows’ residency.

||| Also: Visit Bandcamp to hear a second song, “Don’t You Give Up on Me”

||| Watch: Watch the Downtown Session video for “1957”: