Everybody Works

At 22, indie-pop auteur Melina Duterte, a.k.a. Jay Som, sounds like she’s been at it for decades. Her second album, Everybody Works, sticks close to the early ‘90s underground playbook—big hooks, dreamy textures—without ever sounding stale, breathing new life into Yo La Tengo–style fuzz pop (“1 Billion Dogs”) and My Bloody Valentine lullabies (“(BedHead)”). The secret turns out to be Duterte’s songs, which are by turns passionate but resigned, forthright but vulnerable, beautiful but distinctly bittersweet.