Yourself and the Air

It's not too late for the indie-pop kids in Yourself and the Air to reconsider their band's name. Formed in 2006, the Chicago group (the acronym YATA only increases the pain) has only a full-length and the 2008 EP Friend of All Breeds to their name. But its sound is quietly evolving, from a mix of bright guitar ringlets, glockenspiel noodling and Erick Crosby's angst-strafed vocal yelps to a fuzzier, hookier sound that makes their fusion of the Cure and Modest Mouse sensible, even danceable. The excellent, should-be-a-single "So You've Come to Mingle" starts off with a charming, whispered come-on and then jumps out of its own self-consciously melancholic twee skin with spazzed-out guitars and a springy beat that suggests the Go-Betweens at their most fun, punk and refreshing.