The Futurebirds, Hampton’s Lullaby

By Adam McIntyre

On Hampton’s Lullaby, The Futurebirds create lush, reverby indie pop with varied acoustic instrumentation and those western Americana leanings. These guys from Athens harmonize, they twang with beards, they do some pretty damned interesting gritty guitar solos. . . and did I mention that they like reverb?

They’ll probably stop just short of reminding you of My Morning Jacket (though they do remind me a bit of a favorite band of mine, Hands Down Eugene) and in spite of the steel guitars and southern-sung style, they’re unlikely to evoke a country vibe. More like Pernice Brothers having a country-tinged lullaby writing session.

Why you should check it out: more than any particular song stands out, it is a well-produced album in each sense. Each verse is a dreamy, well-orchestrated trough of melody and every chorus crests with youthful passion. They could have made this record in the early ’70s for the Beach Boys’ label Brother Records.

Since I gravitate toward the up-tempo, my favorite track on the album was “Yur Not Dead,” whose refrain is the most utterly and heartbreakingly catchy thing I’ve heard in weeks.

Hampton’s Lullaby is out today on Autumn Tone Records. The band will be playing at Bottletree with Roadside Graves in Birmingham, AL on July 15. To find out all upcoming July tour dates and to listen to tracks from the new album, check out the band’s MySpace page.