Kevin Bronson on May 12th, 2015

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Here’s to the time-honored bromide that the best things in life are free. In April, while everybody was busy paying attention to Coachella, psych-poppers Strange Babes released their self-titled album for the mere cost of a click, quietly and without the fanfare it deserved. In fact, it’s still available for free, just by clicking here. And where do I start? Far lesser work has been cast recently into the exosphere propelled by label muscle and media campaigns, but alas “Strange Babes” — the work of L.A.-based New Zealanders Sam McCarthy, Leroy Clampitt and Maddie North — comes by way of a hey-by-the-way. So, by the way, “Strange Babes” is 10 jangling gems co-written by McCarthy and Jaden Parkes, his former bandmate in the Kiwi pop band Goodnight Nurse. The genetic code here belongs to the likes of the Byrds and Teenage Fanclub, and in making the album McCarthy managed to make it all sound as expansive and sunny as all of California. “Holiday” was one of our top tracks of 2014; “Forever” and “Come Back Around” feel like lost classics from the British Invasion. The video for the latter song, above, was directed by Samuel Kristofski and hand-painted on 16mm Color Reversal Film. It’s liberating as well.

||| Stream: “Strange Babes” in its entirety below: