THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “The San Francisco Bay area has long been an important outpost of the International Pop Underground, from the ’90s heyday of The Aislers Set, #Poundsign# and The Fairways to the string of legendary popfests in the early ’00s and more recently to a DIY pop resurgence with bands like The Mantles, Flowertown and The Reds, Pinks & Purples. Now they welcome into this rich pop tradition The Umbrellas, who, after one well-received tape/single, are out to dazzle with their new self-titled debut album.
Classic indie-pop influences abound, from The Byrds to Orange Juice, The Pastels, Comet Gain and Belle & Sebastian, along with a noticeable garage-pop/Paisley Underground flavor that is a hallmark of San Francisco’s best bands. Lead-off single She Buys Herself Flowers introduces us to a band that’s both intimately conversant with indie-pop history but also unburdened by it, a group with the song-crafting chops and spirit to take familiar elements and create for themselves a fresh new sound. The album goes from strength to strength, studded with pop gems like Near You, Lonely and Pictures — tunes that sound like classics from the first listen, as timeless and elemental as all great pop.”
