Balancing the expressive grace of
Hannah Joy's vocals against the buzzy but melodic wall of guitars generated by
Joy and
Tim Fitz,
Middle Kids display an impressive gift for grand-scale indie pop on their first full-length album, 2018's
Lost Friends. While
Lost Friends was recorded just two years after
Middle Kids first began working together, the performances display the confidence and panache of a much more experienced group. There's nothing tentative in the massive sound generated by
Joy,
Fitz, and drummer
Harry Day, and while
Joy is a more of a crooner than a belter, her instrument is capable of standing tall against the report of the band, which sometimes suggest a more playful and lighthearted version of
My Bloody Valentine.
Fitz produced these sessions, and his studio savvy is impressive; while the audio is for the most part unobtrusive, he makes the most of the potent six-string sounds generated here, and knows how to weave the subtle textures of pedal steel, piano, and banjo through the brawny tone of the guitars.
Joy is the band's principal songwriter, and her melodic sense is a fine match for the band's attack, at once breezy and ferocious, and if her tunes are more memorable than her lyrics, the accepting heart of "Don't Be Hiding" and impressionistic images of "Maryland" show she possesses an intelligence and clear eye that will doubtless serve her well in the future. While
Middle Kids showed plenty of promise on their 2017 debut EP,
Lost Friends is where they show they can make a proper album and actually improve on their bag of musical tricks, and it's a strong and engaging work. ~ Mark Deming