Audio Mixer: Peter Katis.

Recording information: Public Hi-Fi Studio; Tarquin Studios; Tiny Telephone.

Photographer: Seth Smoot.

On their fifth album, Mates of State deliver a blend of indie rock and keyboard-driven '60s-influenced pop that's reached a peak of sophistication over the course of their eight-year sonic trajectory. Singer/keyboardist Kori Gardner and her husband, singer/drummer Jason Hammel, generate an impressive amount of sound for two people, and whether they're turning out Beatles-flavored vocal harmonies and piano lines on "Jigsaw" or the driving, synthesizer-colored rock of "Now," Gardner and Hammel create a style that's quirky and forceful enough to endear them to indie-rock fans but melodic and mature enough to brand them as pure pop practitioners.