White Arrows stands at these balmy crossroads like a vision from an alternate reality: classic without leaning on nostalgia, visionary but not unfamiliar. What should be a collision of sounds and styles--ritualistic rhythm and four-four thump, synth sequences and strummed guitars, garage-y grind and airy atmosphere--is, in this quintet's capable hands, a fluidly seething whole. Call it Psychotropical pop, something both busy and breezy. Call it Paul Simon in space (others have). Call it what you will. This is White Arrows.

The White Arrows story begins with a blind boy. Singer Mickey Church was born seeing the world as an im...[more]