#beachboys

Consider, for instance, “Can I Hear Your Story?” a sugar rush of criss-crossing vocals and gauzily irresistible hook. Around Leibowich’s main vocal melody, a chorus of overdubbed descants swirl, filling out the space, as drums pound and guitars exult. It’s such a good song, and so very different from the guy-on-stool-with-guitar-moaning-about-his-love-life standard that solo, self-recorded pop often adheres to.

These are not, in general, confessional songs. The palette is much larger than Leibowich’s personal experiences; it explores imaginative visions that are not quite real. For instance, “Without Fail,” which opens the second side, is a third-person story song about a dangerous pied piper sort of performer. He captures his audience with words and doesn’t let them go. It billows and masses and lilts in soft-focus hookiness, very much in line with Jason Quever’s best work with Papercuts.

A few of the songs rock out a little harder, shaped by sharper guitars and rowdier drums. “Don’t You Fall Down” is one of these, a jagged garage pop gem that punches as hard as it daydreams.

It’s always difficult to put a finger on exactly what makes one album of guitar pop better than another, but this is a good one, eccentric and wistfully pretty and not at all limited by the format. Leibowich is thinking in larger terms — of choirs and orchestras and baroque poetry — and making that stuff out of what’s at hand.