Kero Kero Bonito may make you think of 80s British pop groups Miaow and the Primitives—quite a feat in 2018.
Kero Kero Bonito may make you think of '80s British pop groups Miaow and the Primitives—quite a feat in 2018. Polyinvyl Record Co.

Kero Kero Bonito, "Flyway" (Polyvinyl)

Indie-pop that relies on sonic and vocal cuteness generally cloys, but London-based Kero Kero Bonito find a way to make this approach pleasurable. Perhaps their adherence to the sprightly melodic principles of the C86 cassette (especially Miaow and Primal Scream) and the frothier end of the shoegaze-rock spectrum (think Lush and the Primitives) results in more interesting songs—at least to my jaded ears. Some songs even hint at bit of Strawberry Switchblade's elysian wistfulness, bless 'em.

KKB's second album, Time 'n' Place, deviates from the band's previous electronic-oriented work, and it's justly gaining buzz. Who knows, they may be upstaging headliners Frankie Cosmos on this current tour, which stops at Neptune Theater on November 10. In vocalist Sarah Midori Perry, KKB have a budding star and a singer who exudes a carefree gravitas—not an easy paradox to carry off. "Flyway" generates a lavender-scented breeze of ice-cool pop that calmly eradicates all worries during its two-minute running skipping time. It's a brilliant précis of understated ebullience—a low-key summer anthem about avian migration, incongruously released in the fall.