It would be easy to discount the popularity Brooklyn psych-pop quartet Crumb have enjoyed so far. After all, their brand of laid-back guitar jams definitely fit in alongside your average play-by-numbers dream pop on algorithmically-calculated ‘Indie Chill’ playlists. But as their organic popularity has shown (their debut LP has been fully funded by their listeners), that’s underselling their clear appeal.

The foursome started playing together at Tufts University in Boston, and each member already had experience of being in their own jazz, soul and rock bands before that. Each of these genres shimmies across this beguiling album. Unexpected but welcome undertones of spookiness haunt singer and guitarist Lila Ramani’s creepy lyrics (“The blood inside me is a dark purple shade,” she sings languidly on the ostensibly upbeat Part III), and imaginative recording techniques lift and layer each instrument, giving the record a blurry, nostalgic feel. The warped guitar line darting in and out of the gauze-like organ on Fall Down is an especially well-executed moment.

Now on tour, the band have to prove they can live up to their online hype in front of live audiences. With an album as gorgeous as this to draw from, they can’t stray far wrong.

Sammy Jones