12. Chvrches / The Bones of What You Believe

CHVRCHES deliver immediate electro-pop music.  With several hook-filled singles released earlier this year, the Glasgow-based band collected their best stuff on The Bones of What You Believe, one of the most memorable debuts of the year.

It doesn't hurt that The D Man has a major musical crush on vocalist Lauren Mayberry.  Not only does she have a law degree and a masters in journalism, but she infuses her lyrics with a gravity that (almost) surpasses the fact that she is quite pretty.  She writes lyrics with a fierce physicality that belies her stature, and listeners are left to wonder how she could ever have a difficult relationship that would merit such tough verbal blows.

Given Mayberry's prominence, someone said the band is like M83 meets Taylor Swift.  Though this may be a decent shorthand to describe their sound, it probably undersells CHVRCHES capabilities.  Veteran musicians Iain Cook and Martin Doherty employ catchy synthesizers and vocal loops, and the trio push electronic boundaries in an accessible vein, finding the same pulse that listeners have come to expect from artists like Anthony Gonzalez or Passion Pit, and embracing of-the-moment electronic textures that never interfere with the underlying hooks.  The band's devotion to big-song melodies is charming and pure synth-pop pleasure.

The big singles carry the album: "The Mother We Share," "Gun," "Lies," and "Recover."  (How about that, a popular indie band with songs that actually sound like singles?)  But there are plenty of nice moments throughout the 12 tracks.  "Lungs" bounces and throbs like the best unreleased Debbie Gibson song.  (Yes, that is a compliment!)  And "Night Sky" and "By the Throat" build up to starry little epiphanies.  Hopefully this is the start of something big.  But if CHVRCHES never break new ground, and if there only success is this album and its hook after relentless hook, that will be enough.