Kevin Bronson on June 14th, 2012

0

San Fernando Valley-bred quartet Infantree are growing up fast. They arrived in 2010 with “Would Work,” an amiable collection of dad-rock with enough heart, soul and twang to make them a welcome addition to California’s folk-rock lineage. On their sophomore effort, “Hero’s Dose” (out June 26 on Vapor Records), the foursome of Alex Vojdani, Donald Fisher, Matt Kronish and Jordan Avesar dig a lot deeper. Working in the studio again with Neil Young collaborator Niko Bolas, Infantree play like old souls, and brood like them too, fashioning a hybrid of psychedelia, folk and pop that’s based on meticulous craft (especially in their harmonies and guitar work) rather than fuzzy production. From the grooves of “Original Sin” and “What You Wanna Do” to the weighty sweep of “Should” to the twinkling ballad “Here Goes Nothing,” “Hero’s Dose” sounds far beyond its players’ years. And their single “Fibber” ends with a nifty guitar solo – remember those?

||| Download: “Fibber”

||| Live: Infantree celebrates its album release with a show June 26 at the Satellite. The band also plays July 27 at the Echo and Sept. 1 at the Roxy, and they open for Neil Young and Los Lobos on Oct. 17 at the Hollywood Bowl.

||| Also: After the jump, check out the video for “Here Goes Nothing”: