I wouldn’t call Deletist “revivalists,” though they mostly explore sounds popularized in the late 70s. There’s a healthy amount of California rock (The Doors and Buckingham/Nicks era Fleetwood Mac), but equal amounts of post punk and new wave (Elvis Costello and Television). But Deletist never sounds like they’re aiming for their comps or influences. Deletist sounds like a band jubilantly enamored with their muse. They don’t play music so much as they frolic in sound – which is a testament to just how good they are at playing music. Just as there’s a difference between noise and jazz, there’s a difference between playing your songs and letting your songs play you. That difference, in a word: mastery. Mudlark, the first album by Deletist, is masterful.

Sophisticated yet accessible, nuanced yet immediate, intentional yet precocious. Despite the technicality of nearly every instrument and every part—rhythmically, melodically, dynamically, and compositionally—these songs are performed with whimsy and joy. It’s a disarming combination that results in a ton of fun and holds up over repeated listens. This is an album to play on repeat on a long road trip with the windows down, sun shining, headed anywhere.

Across seven songs, Deletist dabbles with more than a few styles and approaches, showcasing their ability to turn anything into their own unique magic. “Tethers” has a 90s alternative vibe spiced up by an oddly harmonized breakdown. “Mississippi Mud” brings a witchy feel to Television-esque post-punk. The layered chanting of the vocals sounds like they’re casting a spell on you. (If the spell is to make me really enjoy this music, it worked.) Across the album, but in this track in particular, dueling guitar melodies carve out caverns off which the moody vocals can carom. “Catch and Keep” furthers the desert-psych pastiche. It’s a song of summoning that explodes like a bonfire. Gritty guitars unleash without relinquishing the tension. “Fallout,” with its jittery tempo and clever time signature switches, could be an Elvis Costello song from This Years Model – but with the bubblegum harmonies of the Go-Gos.

“Barfly” is one of the happiest feelings ever preserved as a recording. Who can hear this song without grinning from ear to ear? This is pure joy committed to record. Toward the end of the album, Deletist gets into some Blind Melon-esque granola angst, culminating in a multi-part harmony that feels communal and cohesive before dissolving into controlled chaos.

There’s a lot going on in all of these songs, and it’s a lot to pull off. Kudos to the production. The album sounds gorgeous. Drums are deep and rich, the bass tone sturdy and clear, the guitars distinct and perfectly panned, and the vocal treatments provide different feels for different points in each song – sometimes wet with reverb and swirling through the speakers, sometimes bright and direct. Everything is balanced and immediate, perfectly layered, perfectly mixed.

Each instrument brings a distinct personality, and while Deletist occasionally locks into a consistent unit, their sound is primarily defined by the disparate playing pulling at various simultaneous threads. The bass’s off-rhythm plucks and the drums’ adventurous emphases, the guitars strumming and picking in their own corners of the melodies, and the vocals somehow making the work of tying it all together seem effortless. I don’t doubt there was much hard work behind this recording, but the end result is pure unabashed delight. What a gift Deletist has given us.