The Twilight

With their sharp neo-mod looks and electrifying live performances, the members of Twilight have been dazzling local audiences for several years. Their excellent debut on the Cleveland imprint Van Gogh Round (run by Dreadful Yawns manager Eric Schulte) proves that they can cut it in the studio as well.

Recorded over the past year in three different studios and with three producers (including Tim Tobias of Guided by Voices), the album is rooted in sugary yet substantive '60s pop, its five songs flowing like a perfect hybrid of the Kinks, Zombies, and Beach Boys. One listen to the immaculate "Amsterdam" is enough to convince you of the group's pop prowess. The sweet summer vibe continues on "Apple Pie Suburbia" and "The Sound," which are as good as -- if not better than -- anything by such like-minded modern acts as the Apples in Stereo, Olivia Tremor Control, Lilys, and the Minders. The Twilight is equally endearing when it toughens up on the punchy, Replacements-like "I've Got Something To Say," which probably most closely approximates the band's live sound.