The Umbrellas - Write It In The Sky

The Umbrellas white hot streak continues with this latest two track 7", their first release since last year's indiepop blazer of a debut LP. The San Francisco happenings of the last few years are much documented on these pages, the talent pool deep and wide. The Umbrellas might just be the most outwardly pop-ambitious of the current crop. This is, ostensibly, an expert exercise in indiepop classicism, drawing an obvious through line back to some of the first wave all timers - The Pastels are the most clear touchstone, though also Talulah Gosh, Shop Assistants, early MBV and other such unabashed off-centre melodicists. It's no stretch at all to imagine The Umbrellas rolling off the stage at the Living Room in 1984 to be greeted by an overly enthused Alan McGee offering them a chance of a lifetime. More so than on their album, i hear just as much San Francisco heritage here as i do 80s Britain. Not especially the fog pop lo-fi of the current moment, but that wave of bands that arrived just as Slumberland was re-emerging in the mid 00s - Summer Cats, Sexy Kids, Pains et al. And if such enthusiasm for The Umbrellas means anything at all, perhaps then The Aislers Set will finally have their true moment in the sun? In a lot of ways, The Umbrellas are the quintessential Slumberland band. Don't underestimate how much of a privilege such a thing is.