Personnel: Kevin Kusatsu, Luke Top, Cass McCombs (vocals, hand claps); Garrett Ray (drums).

Additional personnel: Jimmy Notorleva, Kevin Kusatsu (hand claps); Luke Top, Cass McCombs.

Audio Mixer: Mark Needham.

Recording information: Doug Messenger's Studio, North Hollywood, CA; Grand Gallop Studios, Reseda, CA; Sage & Sound, Hollywood, CA; The Barrio, Van Nuys, CA.

California's Foreign Born specializes in a brand of indie rock that features big guitars, pop smarts, and swirling atmosphere. The band's full-length debut, ON THE WING NOW, reveals their roots, which extend to U2 and Echo and the Bunnymen, and the way these roots twine with an expansive, contemporary sound. Yet Foreign Born isn't just a retro act: their beautiful, impassioned approach is theirs alone; and the songs, sweeping and melodic, stand up to scrutiny. The dark, off-kilter "Union Hall," the driving "It Wasn't Said to Ask," and "The Nights Fall," which washes over the listener in waves, are among the highlights.