Thanks to the trippy title and the intergalactic landscape that adorns its cover, this record will no doubt find itself surrounded by ambient psych rock albums on the shelves of unsuspecting stoners everywhere. Let this be a warning then to those who are enticed by the idea of being launched from their smoky bedrooms on a spaceship of the imagination because this ship is headed straight to the surf, sun and sand of the 60’s American coast.

The Specific Heats are a Boston five piece with a soft spot for sweet 60’s pop (The Shadows and The Kinks often come to mind) and, judging by their name, an apparent love of college chemistry. There is an unmistakeable 21st century indie twist to their sound as well but perhaps the most immediately striking thing about The Specific Heats is that their singer, “Mat”, is so often out of tune. While this must seem like a perfectly good reason to avoid the album, on the contrary it is one of the many reasons that it works so well. Mat’s voice is not one of a person who can’t sing but of one that is simply not trying to impress. This air of indifference is the perfect complement to the laid back, surf-slacker vibe that carries through each track on the record.

The tracks themselves are short and sweet but each has their own sound and an important part in the album as a whole. Opener, Take the Wheel, is sung from the point of view of a boy delighted to be rid of his lying girlfriend. The song has an irresistible bounce and is complete with “do-do-do’s” and a cheery melody to match. From here the album moves to Other Boys, a somewhat less cheery tune, again about an untrustworthy girlfriend. The lyrics tell of heartbreak and the minor key makes for a slight air of gloom but this is still pop music with bounce and as always, there’s room in there for a “bop-bop-bop” and a “do-do-do” amongst all the betrayal.

Of all the tracks, All Summer best sums up the atmosphere of the record with a lazy beat and a guitar that bends like distant figures on a hot summer beach but themes of innocence and young love on the summer shore can be found in almost any track you care to choose. The most notable deviation from this is the exceptionally fuzzy Brain Song which is, quite simply, a song about looking after your brain. The backing vocals stop in the middle of the track for Mat to deliver a tongue in cheek spoken word lesson on brain maintenance in which he warns of the potential dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. “When I want to journey to the centre of my mind, I read a book” he remarks before the track dissolves into the tune of Iron Butterfly’s In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. After a welcome reprise of All Summer, the album winds up with Carl Sagan bringing the listener back to reality with a touching farewell to the summer and the inevitable end to a summer fling.

The songs of The Specific Heats suggest they have a simple and deliriously happy outlook on life. This will certainly not appeal to listeners who prefer their pop to have a firmer basis in the real world and some of these songs will likely prove too much for even the sweetest tooth. But for those who enjoy a bit of escapism, this might just provide the perfect soundtrack to the summer.