Eaves Wilder - Little Miss Sunshine 

Despite its sound owing much to late-‘90s alternative – and that it’s coming two years on from her initial breakthrough – there’s something so beautifully ‘now’ about ‘Little Miss Sunshine’, this debut full-length from Eaves Wilder. Not the ‘now’ that one might imagine rapacious, cartoonish A&Rs to seek – that’s already been and gone, despite their efforts, if it even existed. But a ‘now’ that, among other things, has digitally-literate teens metaphorically crate-digging in a way that’s seen many a veteran act performing to audiences younger than their biggest hits; Olivia Rodrigo using her stage as a pseudo mixtape, Hayley Williams spilling her own guts across new material, and acts like Mitski, Wolf Alice and Wet Leg crossing over into pop spheres in various ways. That tangent is to say, there’s an audience ready and primed for a record like this, should it find them.

The scene opener ‘Hurricane Girl’ sets is one that contrasts Eaves’ saccharine vocals – exaggerated in their effect as to veer towards the sinister – and soaring guitars. To use a decidedly ‘90s reference point to match its result: it’s as if Alisha’s Attic had been reached by riot grrrl. Similarly, ‘Ropeburn’ continues in the ‘90s alt-pop vein, while that same intense vocal turn adds a dollop of intrigue to ‘English Tea’, its “…or we could go for a drive / Or you could sit with me” given multiple interpretations.

There’s a glorious oomph to ‘Just Say No!’, while ‘The Great Plains’ feels like a classic summertime radio bop, a hint of wistful resignation to its repeated “I wanna be a cowboy, mama”; closer ‘Summer Rolls’, too, whirls dreamily into being a classic, expansive final song. It’s ‘Daisy Chain Reaction’ that’s the true gem here, though; its witty title matched by an enviable ability to ooze ennui, an excitable, chugging pulse and an immediate sense of having already existed for decades, a song that’s not trying to be - but just is. Equal parts escapist and infectious, while simmering with if not rage then an itchy frustration, ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ is, yes, the exact misnomer one would assume its title to be, and yet entirely suited to the coming months.