Flavor Wave’s single, “The Optimist,” arrived less like a declaration and more like someone tentatively drawing back a dusty curtain on a grey afternoon. From West Chester, PA, these five lifelong friends – Kyle Loedel (vocals, lyrics), Matthew Stretch (lead guitar), Patrick Blair (rhythm guitar), Noah Montgomery (bass), and Joshua Speaker (performer/drums) – typically tread alternative rock paths nodding to influences like The Strokes....

This one hits like finding an unexpectedly perfect strawberry in a punnet full of slightly squashed ones. Lemon, the Dutch outfit featuring Mark ‘Bong The Bass’ Bongers, Paul Hesen, Ralf Hesen, and Thomas Gense, lob "Gimme Something True" into the fray, and it lands with a bright, almost demanding, splash. It’s got that sun-drenched, baggy strut of Madchester about it, doesn’t it? A psychedelic...