69. TWENTYTWO IN BLUE by Sunflower Bean

This second record from New York trio Sunflower Bean (apparently the two founding members of the band had an affinity for sunflower seeds and coffee/coffee beans, respectively) came out in 2018 to generally favorable reviews. Landing squarely in the indie rock/pop realm, the standout features are singer/bassist Julia Cumming’s vocals and the cohesiveness of the playing by all three band members. There are a couple of songs where vocal duties are mostly carried by the male members of the band, but I find I’m drawn to the songs sung by Cumming. The first five songs (essentially half of the album) are a great way to start out. ‘Any Way You Like’ is a nice slow song toward the end of the record though, again, I think it would’ve worked much better with Cumming on lead vocals for the entire length of the song (she takes over lead about half way through).