WASTED HEARTS

A jangle-fuzz, shoegaze-tinted fizz of power-pop, the 2013 collection from Sweden’s First Love, Last Rites is immediate as it is raw. Melodic and irredeemably catchy, on the one hand it swells with heart-busting distortion and feedback frequencies that could shatter rock; while on the other, leads Telecaster brightness down gentle inclines of breathy harmony. The push and pull is central to the record and creates tension so that when choruses arrive the effect is akin to a slot machine paying out. Guitar mastery and layers of fuzz aside, the band have heart and more than a casual knack for sugary pop hooks that elevates the collection far beyond the in-vogue guitar records of the day.