Listening to Gardens & Villa, a band from Southern California (Santa Barbara to be precise), it’s hard not compare them to other successful indie-rock/psych-folk outfits such as Local Natives, who also hail from Southern California. That isn’t to say that they made bad/derivative music—in fact—it’s quite the opposite; they make damned fine music.

“Black Hills” is an excellent example of this. Starting out with a minute long medley of synthesizers and instruments that are vaguely reminiscent of a more lightly arranged LCD Soundsystem song, it escalates into a soaring lead vocal and some absolutely delightful harmonies.

Gardens & Villa, the group’s self-titled debut album is available now via Secretly Canadian.

Gardens & Villa – Black Hills

’Black Hills’
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