sarah-bethe-nelson-oh-evolution
Photo: Justin Frahm

Sarah Bethe Nelson: Oh, Evolution

On her gorgeous sophomore album, Sarah Bethe Nelson combines the sunny hooks of the '60s with the more contemporary feel of indie rock.
Sarah Bethe Nelson
Oh, Evolution
Burger
2017-02-24

The music of San Francisco’s Sarah Bethe Nelson seems airlifted in from a couple of different eras: a healthy dose of ‘60s touchstones mesh nicely with a ‘90s college rock sensibility. She may not be breaking new ground, but she’s taking the pieces and rearranging them beautifully.

Oh, Evolution comes on the heels of her 2016 debut, Fast Moving Clouds, and is a huge slice of nostalgia that somehow manages to forge its own path. In other words, it’s never lazily or carelessly derivative. On the opening track, “Hazy”, Nelson manages to carve out a delicious Beatlesque power-pop gem with gleaming chorus harmonies and jangly college rock guitars. While the album tends to veer off into different directions during its 40-minute run time, “Hazy” works as a mission statement, setting the scene for an album of glittering (if occasionally downbeat) pop/rock songcraft.

While Oh, Evolution often paints something of a gloomy face on ’60s hook-infested pop, there are times when the music is undeniably sunny: “I Don’t Care” has a positively playful demeanor, with simple guitar riffs meshing nicely with cheesy keyboard chords and Leslie speaker effects. “Bright Thing” brings a twangy country sensibility to the proceedings, with a simple shuffle beat providing buoyant accompaniment to Nelson’s peerless girl-group vocalizing. This kind of offbeat culture clash makes for plenty of unusual pairings that almost always work beautifully.