Complain all you want about production-obsessed, melody-happy, Brian Wilson-toenail-clipping-collecting melodic pop auteurs; when they actually have a gift for melody and composition, they can make the creation of great songs seem not only effortless, but as necessary as breathing. Hushdrops, composed of longtime Chicago scenesters and background musicians John San Juan and Joe Camarillo, are clearly studio rats whose time has come -- musicians for whom the careful layering of instruments and melodies is not merely an optional effect, but the sole direct route to musical truth. Thankfully, their obsessiveness, their ambition and the two years that it took them to get this album recorded have not dulled or compromised its effectiveness in any way. Volume One is filled with knowledge of its touchstones, worthy of its forbears, and a pure blast of summery fun to listen to.

Full disclosure: the fact that the disc's third track (and one of the album's highlights), "Emily", shares a name with a certain Mrs. McCallon certainly hasn't hurt the band's status in my estimation.

"I Get What I Want" is a good place to start in discussing Volume One's many delights. The opening portion takes a cue from Abbey Road's B-side, mixes in a little of the super-shiny pop sound of, say, Steely Dan, and pins the chorus on a slab of distorted, Smashing Pumpkins-style guitar. There's a whip-lashing effect at work here, exemplifying a personality's poles -- calm and easygoing versus harsh and demanding. "Doctor V" rides a metallophone up the scale to pure pop bliss, where the vocals are taken over by a lovely female guest. The track's gently bouncy tone belies its rather dour subject matter, the pharmacological escape from romantic pain.

The above tracks were praised pretty much at random: anyplace your laser lands, the output satisfies. Even "Miami Rap", thankfully, turns out to be a Blur-style rocker (think "Bank Holiday" from Parklife) rather than an ill-conceived hip-hoppification of the Hushdrops' sound. Closer "Here She Comes" takes its sweet time getting started, with well over a minute of wind-up before the twin female vocals take over, drifting over the track's insistent drumming and careful distortion. The result is what you'd get if you locked My Bloody Valentine, Ivy, and possibly Magnapop in a room and forced them to agree on how a song should sound. Oh, and the careful mix-through of the rhythm track and the overarching wave of distortion in the closing minutes is a real treat.

This album is brilliantly good. If you're jonesing for a new pop band to call your own, or you're just looking for a great new tune to sing for the Emily in your life, you'll find it here.