Having a case of the cold-weather blues? The Babies can help with that. Our House On The Hill, the sophomore album from the band that features Cassie Ramone of Vivian Girls and Kevin Morby of Woods is full of infectious hooks to carry you through the dark days of winter.  Though they hail from Brooklyn, the Babies primarily wrote and recorded this album in Los Angeles, and the sound lies somewhere in the middle of the East Coast-West Coast geographical spectrum. It's the perfect intersection of slow-burning moodiness and sunny twang.

Opening track "Alligator" immediately draws the listener in with it's energetic rhythm and Morby's all-too-familiar laments: "Life is funny/Life's a laugh/Life is lonely/Yeah, it's a drag." This whimsical self-loathing creeps up again on "Slow Walkin", while songs like "Mess Me Around" and "Mean" are full of aggressively charming sneers; a delicate balance of sincerity and facetiousness. While the album's first half is filled with rollicking guitar riffs, songs on the second half of the album are more mellow and stripped down. Ramone's folk-tinged vocals shine most as she sings of melancholy wanderlust on "See The Country".  The album repeatedly touches on youthful themes of desperation, confusion, and isolation, yet it's surprisingly endearing and hopeful, lifting your spirits with catchy melodies that will be a struggle to get out of your head.

With this album, The Babies have matured and progressed without losing sight of their delightfully messy roots. Noticeably more crisp and refined in its production than their lo-fi, ramshackle debut, Our House On The Hill is evidence of a band that have established themselves beyond just side-project status.