Gardens & Villa – Gardens & Villa

Gardens & Villa’s debut album is frustratingly half-baked, rendering successes such as Thorn Castles’ Shins-esque ditty and opener Black Hills’ Yeasayer-style atmosphere ultimately moot. First, the good: Orange Blossom is excellent, its peculiar timbre topped by an unlikely flute solo. But when the flute later resurfaces for Sunday Morning, the rot has long set in, yielding uninspired, plodding prog-lite.

The Californian quintet’s biggest foe is their lack of consistency, which produces an accumulative cloud of boredom despite the aforementioned flashes of inspiration. Chemtrails barely holds together, its echoey sighs recalling early My Morning Jacket to substantially lesser effect (Tennessee Fire’s rare beauty is leagues ahead of this bundle of nothingness), while Carrizo Plain could be rechristened Band of Geldings, such is its dulled placidity. Luckily, closer Neon Dove restores some spark, so while Gardens & Villa is an undistinguished first effort, they’re not to be written off quite yet. [Chris Buckle]