Wiped Out!

I Love You. introduced The Neighbourhood as masters of atmosphere. Their follow-up, Wiped Out!, proves it was no fluke. “Prey” leads with a jazz-flecked guitar as Jesse Rutherford sings achingly vulnerable lines bathed in fuzzy, '60s production textures. Sometimes it’s an airy groove pulled from a Balearic island (“The Beach”). Other times, their downcast pop sounds like The Cure riffing on the blues. The band's knack for writing perfectly understated melodies is one thing—but how they nail the heady vibe to match them is magical.