Ten Million Lights – Shine So Bright (Self-Released)

This Portland, OR band have been putting out music since 2010, but have just now come to my attention with their latest EP, Shine So Bright. While the Ten Million Lights sound may be heavily based on a bedrock of the more hard-hitting Ride/Swervedriver end of the shoegaze spectrum, singer Ryan Carroll (previously from Saturna and Silver Surfer) brings a very ’60s-styled sense of songwriting and harmony to the table. In fact, if you stripped all the hard-hitting rhythms and twisted guitar atmospherics out you could probably repurpose his vocal tracks for a set of songs that recall The Who circa-Sell Out or Simon & Garfunkel even. No wonder one of their old EPs includes covers of mid-’60s UK freakbeat/psych greats like The Pretty Things, The Craig, and The Mickey Finn. Each of the five songs here are worth your time, but “Myanmar” is a real stunner, with all those harmonies and noisy guitars reaching their noise-pop pinnacle. Start there and prepare to be charmed.