Lower Back Pain
Picnic on the Moon (Independent)

Lower back pain is not a phenomenon you would normally associate with teenage dudes, unless something has gone very wrong, but the members of Lower Back Pain (singer-guitarists Myles Hemy-Bain and Julien Hicks, drummer and bassist Will Jagger, and keyboardist Christian Petersen) were, unbelievably, 16 and in high school when they recorded Picnic on the Moon. (They’re 17 now.)

While there’s definitely a youthful exuberance to their shimmering and playful pop (and their angsty lyrics, which might flood you for nostalgia for the most tormented parts of being a teenager), there’s also a maturity to the song structures. That may or may not have something to do with the parentage of one of the band members. (Hemy-Bain is the progeny of Pointed Sticks guitarist Bill Napier-Hemy and Jill Bain, who is better known as Jade Blade of the Dishrags).

The lead vocals, on charmingly titled songs like “Turkey Sandwich” and “Green Stuff”, are nerdish and endearingly quirky—like something from the glory days of Williamsburg hipsters. Or when Jeffrey Lewis was young and beautiful. The press release says the album was recorded in “a parent’s basement”, and we’d guess that parent is plenty proud.