Fang Island

On Major, the Brooklyn, NY trio of exuberance maestros dubbed Fang Island sacrifice none of their candy-coated charm or technically adept musicality in their continued mission to hone the craft of sonic positivity. Their second LP as part of Sargent House's carefully curated roster of forward-thinking artists, who are redefining the perceived limitations of progressive music, is as relentlessly optimistic and crammed with joyous major key guitar riffage and gang harmonies as their self-titled debut, but also finds room for growth. "Dooney Rock," a Celtic stomper injected with some peppy thrash metal chugging, stands out from the pack, and opener "Kindergarten" allows for a bit of deceptive minor key exploration while including the band's hankering to dress tracks in epic guitar harmonies, with an atypical, bouncy piano refrain. Major doesn't run at the consistently breakneck pace of Fang Island's debut, but the group rely less on near-ludicrous histrionics and more on exhibiting the joy of creation through complex and confident songwriting.