FM Blanket | Heartbeeps
Dehydrated Mirage RecordsJazz-infused art rock with humanist aspirations? High-concept indie that somehow manages to connect rather than feel pretentious? You just might be listening to the Heartbeats EP from the Hudson Valley's own FM Blanket. This trio melds a lot of '80s-'00s influences seamlessly. The title track is an unforgettable earworm that references Philip K. Dick over a looped hook that will stay in your head for days. Think a catchy dystopian cityscape that is more lo-fi rock than the Weeknd's "Blinding Lights" while still capturing lonely cocktail-bar moods better than Taylor Swift's much more forced "False God." The whimsical and borderline-morose no wave-bold-jazz influences evoke mood swings passing through the mind like storm clouds. "Tangled Like Strays" evokes slow, rambling early Beck complete with twang. "Voodoo and Charms" closes things out with sad-but-catchy, drifting, Elliot Smith-esque, morose-and-maudlin musing.