Pop Etc

With its eponymous debut album, Pop ETC embraces the title of Jimmy Buffett’s 1977 record Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes without sounding anything like him. More specifically, the indie band used to live in San Francisco and perform melancholy, Shins-esque, baroque pop as Morning Benders. Then in early 2012, the group relocated to Brooklyn and completely changed its sound and name to more closely resemble the cosmopolitan R&B created by bands like Air and Phoenix. “New Life” opens Pop ETC with a glossy, neon production where Christopher Chu sings through Auto-Tune effects over a minimal blend of synths and drum machines. “Back to Your Heart” boasts some of the most uplifting melodies here, plus mixing-console wizardry courtesy of Andrew Dawson (Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, The Pet Shop Boys, Nas, etc.). The infectiously catchy single “Keep It for Your Own” has Chu exercising a cool restraint in the chorus before blowing out the refrain with a pop sophistication that gets stuck in your head (but not in an annoying commercial-jingle kind of way). “Yoyo” closes the set with bright, '80s electro-pop tones.