Exploding Flowers released their debut full-length in 2011. It took them nine years to follow it up with the excellent Stumbling Blocks—an album that landed high on my AOTY list the year we started Add To Wantlist. The wait for their latest record sure tested my patience, and honestly, I’m just relieved they didn’t make us hold out until 2029.

Watermelon/Peacock finds the Sharif Dumani-led Exploding Flowers seamlessly blending jangle pop, power pop, and psych influences. Dumani’s résumé includes collaborations with Alice Bag, Cody Chesnutt, Sex Stains, The Moon Upstairs, Classics of Love, Nick Garrie, Jowe Head, Nikki Sudden, and Silver Apples, but if you need a single reason to dive into this band, just listen to album opener Crowded Streets—a masterclass in hooky guitar pop. The album shifts gears smoothly from there: What Are We Going To Do brings a quieter jangle pop moment before the band launches into the upbeat, instantly gratifying Life on a Timeline. At first, the sequencing seems to alternate between full-blown hits and more laid-back moments, but in the middle of the record We’re Flying Half As High and American Strife, American Life shake up that pattern. And on the B-side, No Arms Around (The Isolationist) is another highlight, packed with the kind of catchy melodies that stick with you. The same goes for album closer Across A Sea, a song that checks all the boxes of a timeless guitar pop classic.

Watermelon/Peacock won’t shatter the ground beneath your feet, but it will make you grateful to be around to experience it. Send this record to your friends. Tell them you love them. Then head over to Meritorio Records and order the LP.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp || Meritorio Records