In a final tape before their forthcoming name change and new direction, nonchalant pop-rock group Hola Beach recounts the years with equal parts sympathy and dejection. Downtrodden guitar lines swirl prominently, pushing back on Will Kurzner’s blank, conversational vocals. Remarks on interpersonal anxieties come to a head with “Positiv” (“I don’t feel positive about who I am”). Still, the five loose tracks take on some brighter hues of honeyed sentimentality, touched with regrets but still chugging along.

***.5

This article appears in January 26 • 2018.

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