Photo by Jolie M-A

The power-pop-meets-C86 brilliance of Lifeguard guitarist Kai Slater’s buzzworthy DIY side-project Sharp Pins overfloweth this year. Between the late-blooming breakthrough of his reissued 2024 debut, Radio DDR, and now news that it’s already being followed up in close pursuit with his sophomore follow-up, the 21-track Balloon Balloon Balloon, there’s not going to be any shortage of melancholic musical sunshine coming our way leading into these autumn months (and sidenote: if you need a jolt of electricity, there’s always Lifeguard’s highly recommended debut album Ripped and Torn to revisit as well.)

Turning the page to lead single “( I Wanna) Be Your Girl”, Slater’s prolificity for sculpting lovesick ballads full of birds-and-bees-swooning verses, chords designed in paisley, and choruses carried up in featherlight harmony is front and center, and doesn’t fade in the shadows of its longing desires. There’s resolutely more crinkles of a homespun tape deck crackle throughout the listen. Yet, in its final moments, the clouds part and its mod pop psychedelia gently beams rays from the sun off into the distance, offering the hope that these daydreams will come true, someday.

Directed by: Grace Bader Conrad

Sharp Pins’ Balloon Balloon Balloon will be released November 21st on K Records / Perennial.