It’s two in the morning and I’m dying for avocado toast, sings Hands and Knees in “Chill Dusk,” the opening track of their latest album, Count to a Million Pineapples. If those lyrics don’t already convince you, the band’s pleasant tunes full of cheery fingerpicking and vibrant vocal melodies make even the mundane seem extraordinary.
As a whole, Count to a Million Pineapples is like a plate of musically delicious samplers. Tunes like “Yell at the Clouds” offer an aggressive, more direct alternative to the intricacy exhibited in the wistful and delicate “Purrin.” “Moonlight Ride” and “Woodsmoke” revel in their own beautiful simplicity, making the heart ache and smile simultaneously. “Black Rainbow” and “When You Laugh” evoke a sense of nostalgia for sunny days and adventurous life trials. The album highlights an extensive amount of variety, but as a single entity, it’s unified by its melodious uniqueness.
“Rose” is a standout track in terms of its sheer catchiness. It dances, bounces, and dodges around light guitar lines, while occasionally pausing to plunge into periods of uncertainty. It’s not peppy enough to be a warm, feel-good sort of tune, but not hesitant and dark enough to be a song you wipe your tears to. It instead walks a line of shaky disorder and familiar comfort. The result is a hopelessly alluring song that you’ll find yourself playing on repeat through the night.
There is an unidentifiable, indescribable quality that makes Count to a Million Pineapples truly a special album. It’s an invigorating breath of fresh air in an equally as fresh musical landscape. The agreeable feeling you get from it is something you’ve felt hundreds of times before, but Hands and Knees present it in a distinctly charming and artful way that you won’t soon forget.