Where Were You in the Wild? (Independent)

If ever a band sounded like it was conceived in a Commercial Drive coffee shop, it’s Language-Arts. There’s something undeniably hippy-dippy about this local collective, from its grab bag of influences to frontwoman Kristen Cudmore’s quirky, occasionally inane lyrics.

The group’s second album, Where Were You in the Wild?, opens with “Cavity,” a jazzy bass groove providing the backdrop for home-economics tips like “Did you know most things are microwaveable?” “Grandfather of the Buffalo” is even more esoteric, as Cudmore raps about Mr. Dressup and asthma while offering up hypnotic classical-guitar riffs and sighing background harmonies.

Most frequently, however, it’s Language-Arts’ chamber-pop influences that rise to the top, and it’s here that the group’s ability shines. “White Socks in Birkenstocks” is this collection’s clear standout, the hooks coming quick and often during its cello-laden verses and synthy breakdowns. “Boxed In” cops its bass intro from Sufjan Stevens’s “The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders” before the band enters with a stuttering 5/4 rhythm and cavernous, reverb-swathed production. With its repeated warnings to “Take the time to lay back/But don’t get too comfortable,” it’s not the kind of song that you’re likely to sing along to on the radio. Still, it’s an effectively eerie mood piece, its delicate arrangement proving that there’s more to the group than kitschy genre-mashing.