On its 2007 debut album, TRADING TWILIGHT FOR DAYLIGHT, the Los Angeles-based indie-pop quartet Great Northern unveils a lush and layered set of songs. Fronted by singers Solon Bixler and Rachel Stolte, the group mixes subtle electronics into its guitar/piano-driven arrangements (see the shimmering "Home"), often recalling the defunct Scottish band the Delgados (who, oddly enough, have an album called THE GREAT EASTERN) in both its boy/girl vocals and its ambitious aesthetic.

Great Northern co-leaders Solon Bixler and Rachel Stolte have both been around the indie rock block a few times, Bixler in the actor's ego trip 30 Seconds to Mars and Stolte in the now-forgotten '90s band Whirlpool. This time, however, they've gotten it right. Great Northern's debut album has a lot of obvious antecedents, mostly from the Dave Fridmann school of neo-psychedelia (Mercury Rev, Grandaddy, etc.) and in Stolte's narcotized, deadpan vocals, the classic 4AD dream pop bands. But Trading Twilight for Daylight's inviting textures are married to a solid collection of tunes, with the terrific and unexpectedly catchy indie rocker "Home," the trippy Flaming Lips-style singalong "A Sun a Sound" and the breathy piano ballad "City of Sleep" serving as particular standouts. Rather than merely relying on atmospheric production (although the well-recorded album has that in spades as well), Bixler and Stolte give all of the songs a strong melodic foundation: the combination of a super-catchy chorus, and some unapologetically ear-grabbing arrangement tricks makes the swirling "The Middle" sound like the great lost freakbeat single of 1967. Nothing in Great Northern's background suggests they were capable of something as impressive as that. ~ Stewart Mason