Kevin Bronson on September 4th, 2019

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Retro Bloom are a Midwestern-bred quartet with, if nothing else, a very accurate name. They have a retro (though not beholden to one genre) sound. And they like flowers, from the stylish floral jackets they wear to their penchant for adorning the stage with the plants when they perform.

The quartet — Tim Skelly, Ryan Chollet, John McManus and Riley O’Halloran, all of whom hail from various Midwestern metropolises — formed in St. Louis. Three of the four are veterans of a cappella groups and they harmonize like it. They are now stationed somewhere along Melrose Avenue, making music, they proudly say, their moms love.

Mom must have a sophisticated palate. After playing live gigs around town for the past year or so, Retro Bloom formally started their L.A. chapter earlier this month, releasing the single “Getaway,” a jazzy pop number carried by their clean harmonies. “I have a 9-year-old little sister back in Chicago, so the chorus is really aimed at her, saying no matter where I physically am, I’ll always be there for you,” Skelly says. “The verse ‘Hey hey do you want a getaway / Do you ever say anything / Do you wonder why we made it this far?’ is a bit of a challenge to myself. Like, hey if you really want this, if you really want to take this music farther than my hometown it’s time to make a move.”

The quartet today released the new single “She So Fly,” which ratchets up the funk. Produced and mixed by Sam Brawner, it’s a hip-shaker spiked by a guitar solo and some serious saxophone, courtesy of Miles Shannon.

||| Stream: “She So Fly” and “Getaway”

||| Live: Retro Bloom plays tonight on a special edition of It’s a School Night at Gold-Diggers. In November, they’ll do a residency at Good Times at Davey Wayne’s (Nov. 5, 12, 19 and 26).