Ears Wide Open: Mind’s Eye

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Mind's Eye (Photo by Sophie Shoemaker / @wideahayproductions)

Mind’s Eye sounds like an ’80s fever dream, an indie band right down to the last jangling guitar lick, post-punk bass line, sighing vocal and veneer of delay that makes everything sound like the late-night marine layer. They seem buzzed by the possibility of romance but drunk on melancholy. And not too proud to be self-deprecating. So we’ll have whatever they’re having.

Having originated in the Bay Area but decamped to L.A., the band — Vince Lopez, Kelli Kumiko, Andrew Scott, Jack Duda and Jacob Cambra — on Friday will release their third album, “Long Nights and Wasted Affairs.” Fans of Surf Curse and Beach Fossils may want to have a listen.

The song “Wasted Affairs” earned Mind’s Eye some acclaim back in 2021, but equally deserving are the moist-eyed dream-pop excursion “Don’t Tell Me” and the prickly album track “Astrology Girl,” which sounds like a million first conversations in a club. Scorpios.

There’s a lot to like on “Long Nights and Wasted Affairs,” which has a dose of humor (see the album opener) and a sense of pathos.

||| Stream: “Running to Find You,” “Don’t Tell Me,” “Clevergirl” and “Wasted Affairs”

||| Live: Mind’s Eye opens for Late Night Drive Home on July 8 at the Echo. Tickets.