Kevin Bronson on May 16th, 2019

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With “On the Lash,” L.A. ensemble the Morning Yells have crafted a true long-player, an album that connects the dots between 1960s folk music, ’70s radio and Heartland rock and their modern, atmospheric offspring.

The Michigan-bred band features the talents of the Stancil siblings, Phil (guitar, vocals) and Laura (bass, vocals), along with guitarist Trevor Smith, keyboardist-guitarist Jacob Boll and drummer Curran McDowell. They released their debut EP, “Proper Wilted,” in 2017 and spent most of last year on the road before convening at Boulevard Recording to make “On the Lash” with producer-engineer Clay Blair.

Its sound is as big as the open-heartedness that fuels the songs. Sibling harmonies, buoyant choruses, deft guitar work — you’ll find them all in songs that, alternately, touch on the gravitas of the War on Drugs, the earnestness of flannel-shirted troubadours, the bittersweet introspecton of Fleetwood Mac and the anthemic grandeur of Britpop (the Verve’s “Urban Hymns,” for instance). At just eight songs clocking in at just over a half-hour, it’s a laid-back but thoroughly engaging collection of classic influences moved into the present.

“On the Lash” is out Friday.

||| Stream: “On the Lash” in its entirety

||| Live: The Morning Yells open for Ocean Alley on May 22 at the Echo. Tickets. They also support Ocean Alley at the House of Blues Anaheim on July 7. Tickets.

||| Previously: “Half Speak”