Kevin Bronson on February 10th, 2014

0

The tricky thing about Blonde Summer is the name – you think you might be in for some waifish, breezy indie-pop, and, bang, the quartet of Chris Pope, Matt Reid, Stephen Kurshner and Roland Trafton hits you with a tight-fisted blast of guitar. It’s sublime, and Blonde Summer has been doing it for three EPs now. The latest, “High Times,” was (too) quietly released in January; it follows “Eleganza” (2010) and “Slow Daze” (2012), and anybody who mourns the supposed death of guitar rock should collect the whole set. In the video for the new EP’s title track, Pope tools around the desert on his bicycle, picking up a friend for a bowling date. Don’t mind me, gonna go pull a wheelie now.

||| Previously: “Slow Daze,” “Silver Jesus,” live in Chinatown