Spring has certainly sprung across the country, as mini heat waves have begun scouring the continent in a pretentious attempt by mother nature to show off her seasonal power. For many, this blossoming warmth is an excuse to take erratic vacation days or to head down to the beach several months before the crowds show up. For those like myself on the other hand, this weather is a perfect opportunity to drop the car windows for the first time this year and blast some jovial perennial jams. Husky is a perfect example of that exemplary and festive warm weather band, with obvious influences from summery 60’s/70’s acts like Paul Simon, The Beach Boys, and Neil Young vibrating through every tactful upbeat note. They may not provide the same intoxicating dog-days feeling as celebrated acts like The Chainsmokers, Taylor Swift, or the majority of country music, but there’s certainly a value to be had in this shoulder-dropping, stressless area of music of blues-y folk rock that was once celebrated much more heavily 4-5 decades ago.

It isn’t too surprising from my previous SOTD posts or from Saint Joan’s upbeat, balmy sensation that Husky is yet another hidden Australian gem. The Melbourne natives made sure to layer plenty of reflective insight on the art and associated struggle of letting go of lost romances, illustrating such with reference to the fabled female military figure Joan of Arc as if she were a past lover that turned into an infamously mythic creature after the split. This track off of Husky’s 2015 sophomore album Ruckers Hill varies drastically from their recent release “Late Night Store“, which turns down a much gloomier, shadowed road as if their influential listening patterns transitioned from Paul Simon songs like “Kodachrome” to darker Simon and Garfunkel songs like “The Sound of Silence”. Regardless, it’s nice to be able to put a soundtrack to that sunny drive down the highway, and now’s the perfect time to embrace “Saint Joan” as a piece to that bright, warm, and cloudless playlist.