Fialta

Specializing in smart, ornate, summery, and bookish (they took their name from a Vladimir Nabokov short story called Spring in Fialta) indie pop, San Luis Obispo, California-based pop confectioners Fialta formed in 2011 around the talents of married couples Michael Leibovich and Beth Clements and David Provenzano and Sarah Shotwell. Relying on offbeat instrumentation and alternating vocals that have drawn comparisons to acts like She & Him, Mates of State, and the Weepies, the tight-knit group released their debut long-player, Summer Winter, in 2013. Described as "a, wry, synth-laced, pop meditation on life in the 21st Century," the band issued their Kickstarter-funded sophomore outing, Shadow of a Drought, in 2016. ~ James Christopher Monger