One of my favorite underrated albums of the year that did not make my top ten this past year was Lake’s, The World Is Real. The fourth LP from the Washington-based based foursome is a really tightly composed collection of songs that meanders comfortably from peppy pop rock, to slower synth balladry, to psych inflected jams. I like to think of the group’s aesthetic existing right in the middle of a line that has Yo La Tengo and Stereolab on either pole. Listen to the whole album to see what I mean, and check out one of my favorite slower tracks, “Reconcile,” below. Really feel like the indie gods would have been pleased if Zach Braff had this album to work with for Garden State, but maybe they just would have been fine with Scrubs not sucking as hard as it did in those final seasons.

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