Family Portrait -- Family Portrait

I've been pretty pleased with just about everything that's been coming out on the Underwater Peoples label lately. The last Ducktails and Real Estate records have had some really sunny, laid back psychedelic grooves that almost make me wish I still smoked weed. Who knows, smoking weed might not be so bad if I just sat alone on the beach listening to these records on my iPod. I don't think I need drugs to feel as good as this debut record from Ridgewood, NJ's Family Portrait makes me feel though. This record's got really spaced-out lo-fi guitar jams, horns, decent lyrics, and some of most impressive drum grooves I've heard in a really long time. I get a real Levon Helm vibe from this drummer and no longer wonder what The Band would sound like if they spent their summers eating mushrooms and hanging out on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights. Well these days, maybe they'd just be fist pumping a lot...but if they were on the Seaside Heights boardwalk of my youth, they'd probably be shrooming and playing music like Family Portrait. Either way, I'm going to be listening to this record a lot this summer. My only complaint is that there aren't enough songs. I can't wait to hear more from this group. Stand out tracks include "Come Back to Me," "Wait," and, my personal favorite, "Killer Statements."

Try.

Buy.