Sharp Pins’ formula for writing a perfect power-pop song isn’t necessarily reinventing any wheels, but the solo moniker of Lifeguard guitarist Kai Slater just needs to turn that same formula on its side by a few degrees, and voila! You’ve got something that hits you like you’ve never heard someone describe the feelings he’s singing before in the most fresh, timeless way. “I Don’t Have The Heart”, the second single from Sharp Pins’ upcoming sophomore effort, Balloon Balloon Balloon, is like that.

You’ve heard the Beatles. You’ve heard the Kinks. You’ve heard Herman’s Hermits. But have you heard any of those bands’ sharp pastiche portrayed with slightly more fussed up hair and as much “punk” as there is “mod” in their sound’s look, updated for a next generation of lovelorn listeners? “I’m a stunted heart / I get so lonely / But then I fall apart / You’re not there to hold me,” Slater catches himself tripping over his own self. Even the mess of it all is its own kind of eloquence. Whereas the rest may have tidied up this familiar story by its end, he’s keeping this one left on an ellipses…

Directed by: Kai Slater & Grace Bader Conrad

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