The Fresh & Onlys – ‘House Of Spirits’

San Franciscans leave punk past behind in favour of new, soaring pop sounds

“The point of forgetting is so you can live”, sings The Fresh & Onlys’ Tim Cohen, and this expansive album sees the San Francisco band leaving their gritty punk past behind. From dainty torch songs (‘Ballerina’) and soaring chamber-pop (‘Animal Of One’), they sound about as far removed from the garage-rock scene that birthed them as they could get without starting a Little Mix covers act. There’s still room for some scuzz, though: the zesty ‘Hummingbird’ lands at the halfway mark, a perfect pulse-quickener, and opener ‘Home Is Where?’ meshes it all together, veering from plaintive piano notes to full on rifforama within the space of a few bars. But this is no identity crisis, it’s the sound of beautiful evolution.

Rob Webb

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