Blue Summer

Cayucas spent two albums getting away from the beachy pop of their 2013 debut Bigfoot, but on Blue Summer, the allure of surf and sand returns to their music like the tide rolling in. A pastel-hued love letter to summer, music, and California, Zach and Ben Yudins fourth album adds more layers to their hazy nostalgia and taps into a Golden State legacy that stretches from the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean to Beck to their own early days. To make Blue Summer, the Yudins returned to the creative process that spawned Bigfoot; they holed up in their home studio and dug into their archive of samples and arsenal of vintage gear. As Cayucas look back, they do it with wit: On Malibu 79 Long, a shameless but cleverly executed pastiche of Good Vibrations and early 60s surf-rock, quickly shifting sonics evoke the way one memory unleashes a flood of other ones. The duo also capture just how inherently nostalgic the fun, romance, relaxation, and excitement of summer are on songs such as Red-Yellow Bonfire, which sneaks some longing into its singalong choruses, and on California Girl, which feels like its more about the idea of falling in love than falling in love with an actual woman. These memories of memories give Blue Summer a soft, slightly faded quality thats even more chilled-out than Bigfoot was back in the day. The mood Cayucas craft is so laid-back that lyrics like Yeah Yeah Yeahs were feelin mellow yellow in the parking lot make perfect sense, as does the whispery Surfin USA homage From the Rafters. Just when it feels like Blue Summer might drift off into the sunset, the Yudins inject a little drama with Champion of the Beach, a three-minute beach movie full of driving melodies and taut harmonies. Theres something endearing about Cayucas mellowed-out reflections on Blue Summer, an album thats as light, warm, and fleeting as a sunbeam and should be appreciated in the same way. ~ Heather Phares