The Lanterns

As we trudge through another long Canadian winter, Lanterns, hailing from San Diego, try to make things better by offering a fleeting taste of Cali rock summer with this five-song EP. And if that taste should come in the form of crisp, melodic post-grunge in the vein of Cap'n Jazz or, to a lesser extent, Unwound, who am I to complain? While the record occasionally veers towards overwrought emo territory, it's generally a carefree, flannel-shirted good time. I challenge anyone old enough to remember 1994 to listen to the bouncy, surf-speckled "Creation Myth" and not feel at least a little nostalgic.