Prior to forming this Austin, TX quintet, three of its five members – drummer/vocalist Ross Gilfillan, keyboardist and Ross’s (now) wife Meg, and guitarist Kevin Butler – played together in a middle school jazz band. But after hooking up with bassist Mike Parker and second keyboardist Clarke Curtis in 2009, they morphed into their current incarnation’s dreamy, atmospheric mid-tempo pop. This debut full-length fulfills the promise of their two strong EPs, 2011’s An Introduction to… and 2013’s Aquarena. BB’s textural, shimmering music mostly recalls UK’s Elbow and Doves, with hints of Nada Surf, Band of Horses, Fresno, CA’s Sleepover Disaster, and Adam & Eve-era Catherine Wheel.
If you missed those EPs, three superb songs from them smartly make return engagements: the thumping, sparkly “Favorite Place,” the thunderous, gripping “Maria,” and the burbling, spectral “The Big Idea.” Each bombards you with wave after wave of spacious (and occasionally spacey), stratosphere-scraping keyboards and crescendoing cloudbursts of guitars. They all encircle and engulf Gilfillan’s expressive, expansive croon, which brings to mind Doves’ Jimi Goodwin, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, and Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws.
There’s no falloff among the new tunes, either. Majestic chuggers “Take Take Take” and “Paradise” blend tension, heft, and beauty in equal amounts, while more serene, glistening numbers “Something to Remember” and “Out the Door” wash over you like a cleansing spring shower. And the terse “In My Arms” has an elevating, surging chorus that feels inspired by vast Texas vistas. It’s easy to see why they landed a record deal in the UK (on Believe Recordings; they’re self-released here), and a choice supporting slot for two Flaming Lips shows in Europe. Here’s betting it won’t be long before we Americans proffer similar plaudits.
