There will always be a place for schoolyard indie pop. On Allo Darlin’s third album We Come From the Same Place the London band do justice to their bookish forefathers Belle and Sebastian and Camera Obscura, with a collection of soft, punchy, and delightful ditties. More insulated than its predecessorEurope, We Come From the Same Place has a more live-in-the-studio vibe, as if the band just picked up instruments one day and just ran through a set of fresh songs.

Clean-toned and sincere, each song plays out like a high school diary entry, recalling lovesick butterflies or exclaiming moments of true love epiphanies. “It seems crazy I know, but I’ve got this idea that we’ve met before and we come from the same place” Elizabeth Morris sings on the song’s title track as she’s “trying to make it through another Tuesday.” The sincerity over such blissful uptempo progressions and plucky guitar leads is enough to get you right back in that youthful spirit where everything seemed possible, while everything around you seemed horrible. On “Bright Eyes” (which is not a reference to Conor Oberst’s band), both Morris and bassist Bill Botting sing together in a call and response manner like a couple exchanging casual vows: “Do you believe in fun?/I surely do/Do you believe in love?/I do if you want me to/I feel better hanging out with you.”

More than anything, We Come From the Same Place is a fun record even when it has the occasional sulk. The songs are not groundbreaking and lean heavy on the aforementioned originators but it’s the type of record that exists nicely in a small world, unfettered by passing trends. “The truth is when I realized I loved you, it was like everything I had ever lost had come back” goes the chorus of the summer time ballad “Crickets in the Rain,” and it’s a line that perfectly sums up the record’s optimistic vibe, which might sound trite on paper, but the album’s candid musings of love set to friendly stone-skipping indie is a nice but of escapism for those looking to tap into the simplicity of puppy love.

http://www.slumberlandrecords.com/

Doug Bleggi