Summer Babes

Summer Babes describe themselves as “Softcore pop for goodlooking people” in their brief and succinct Twitter bio. This is a pretty accurate description for the band fronted by Jeff Albertson of The Lights (other band members include Matt Stegner on guitar, keyboardist Jessica Parsons, bassist Henry Rose and drummer Ryan Reed Creason), but it leaves out one vital part of the band’s sound: fun. ...

"Despite the legacy of Pacific Northwest acts like the Posies and Young Fresh Fellows, and more recent pop-leaning success stories like The Head and the Heart, Seattle remains a city full of people who enjoy pop music but love to pretend they don't. Summer Babes, on the other hand, is a band unapologetic about its tendencies. "It seems like pop is a dirty word in Seattle's music scene," said guitar-and-vocals frontman Jeff Albertson over tall Pabsts in the living room of his picturesque, picket-fenced Fremont home, which doubles as the band's recording studio. "No one wants to admit they're in a pop band. It gets to be like 'We're too cool to do that, we don't want to write simple three-chord songs.' But there's something to be said for celebrating something so simple and pure as pop." ...

"Summer Babes is a new garage pop band from Seattle featuring Jeff Albertson, who you may know as the bass player of The Lights. “Crack Habit” is a super catchy pop track packed with indecipherable lyrics, heavy lo-fi percussion, loud fuzzy guitars, and a bouncy keyboard riff. The song can be found on the band’s debut EP, righteously titled Babe Summer.... "

"When rain starts to come sideways in the Northwest, a band like Seattle’s Summer Babes seem appropriately timely. Named after a great Pavement song of the same name, their chilled-out pop songs aren’t exactly programmed to be beach fare; however, with some of the surf guitar sounds and harmonies on this album you could just as easily dream of sunnier locales while listening. ..."

Summer Babes appeared this summer seemingly out of nowhere with an EP they put up on bandcamp. I got sucked in by the undeniable pop hypnosis of their song Crack Habit and ponied up the $5 for a download and was not disappointed. The Babes are lead by Jeff Albertson who sings sometimes in the Lights but mostly plays bass in that band. ..."