OnMilwaukee.Com Album Review

His breezy, melodic pop — rooted in ’70s folk rock — is the perfect soundtrack for the start of summer.

Last week I heard AM’s, “Future Sons and Daughters” (in a cover that riffs on classic Herb Alpert sleeves) for the first time and was blown away.

The disc, which draws on Brazilian, ’70s AM radio pop and indie rock, recalls Rouse’s best work, but with a blend all its own. The sun-drenched record was produced by Charles Newman (The Magnetic Fields).

“A Complete Unknown” has the gentility and melody and air of a song you’d hear from the back seat while driving in the car with your folks in 1975. The same can be said of “Darker Days.”

But “The Other Side” uses acoustic guitars and mandolins and a delay-laden electric guitar riff to create a mellow, uptempo indie rock number that is equally infectious.

-Bobby Tanzilo