By now, “lo-fi” has less to do with fidelity than ?accountability. If the songs are good, they’re expressions of raw talent, diamonds in the rough; if not, well, the fuck you want, man, I recorded this in my bedroom. In terms of maturity and effort, each of these six reverb-soaked romps is as much of a leap forward from last year’s King of the Beach as that record was from Nathan Williams’ homemade 2009 debut (though Williams is probably smoking out of an apple bong as he reads this). An earwig hook renders “I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl” a self-fulfilling prophecy and Bethany Cosentino’s vocals on career-peak “Nodding Off” make you wish they’d roll tape in their house all day long.
