It’s not yet the summer solstice, but San Francisco quartet Little Person are scooping a big dollop of summer onto our plates with single “She Loves You.” Informed by beachy indie pop both past and present, the band has crafted a song that can both the lovesick and the in-love can camp out on a picnic blanket and eat watermelon to this season.
Though they perform as a quartet, core members (and twins) Nicky and Max Weinbach recorded the song as a duo, yet they manage to fill out a sound that sounds way bigger than their two people. The secret is in their soaring, reberb-laden harmonies that seem to grow and echo as they’re layered and layered upon Nicky’s lead vocals. Put them on top of the sunny guitar pop with a bit of a dark edge and you’ve got a something of a summer hit, the first new music from them since their debut 2014 EP.
Somehow, they transcend the stereotypical beach-pop sound by distilling elements from a range of enduring pop bands, from the breezy pop harmonies of The Beach Boys to the melancholic and distinct guitar tone of The Smiths, to create something timeless. Interestingly enough, they name jazz-leaning artists like Burt Bacharach, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Michael Franks as the influences that got the band started three years ago.
Little Person, it feels like we’ve just met, but we have a twist of feelings seeing you leave the Bay Area! The San Francisco band is making the move to New York soon after they end their nation-spanning tour this month, so we’ll keep this tune for the good memories.