Haim

It’s hard to look past the inherent gimmicky-ness of Haim. L.A. sisters Danielle, Este, and Alana Haim make up the core of the band alongside drummer Dush Hutton, and before they were Columbia Record darlings, they were playing in a band with their parents called Rockinhaim. And no, you didn’t misread that one. On Days Are Gone, the ladies’ long-awaited debut, there’s plenty to love; the percussion, specifically, is about as in the pocket as it gets. The sisters find kindred spirits in everyone from Heart and The Bangles to Lisa Lisa, nailing a sound that falls somewhere between ’80s femme pop and vintage R&B smooth jams. What it amounts to, at least in recorded version, is a full-length full of hits. That lead single, “Forever”? Yeah, it’s been stuck in our head for months, too. Like “Forever,” in its best moments, Days Are Gone is inescapably catchy and unarguably well-crafted. But on those tracks that fall short (namely the twitchy and overproduced “The Wire”), one can’t help but wish Days Are Gone packed a bit less polish and a touch more soul.