French Cassettes music is filled with winding melodies that pop up unexpectedly but grab hold and don�t let go� and may leave you asking �who needs hands with hooks like these?�

The harmony-driven power-pop quartet�s new LP, Rolodex (Sophomore LP released on Tender Loving Empire), was conceived beneath a stairwell in the band�s adopted hometown of San Francisco, where frontman Scott Huerta spent months staying up until 4 am, obsessing over elaborate demos that would eventually become his band�s sophomore album. �I adopted the mentality, which was probably unhealthy, that every song I wrote needed to be my favorite song,� he remembers. �I lost my mind so many times in the middle of the night.�

The album was self-recorded by lead guitarist Mackenzie Bunch in just about every corner of the Bay Area, and the songs that were eventually stitched together are hook-filled and rooted in pop. But they�re also layered and intricate recordings: complex vocal harmonies and counter-harmonies, Rob Mills� inventive percussion, Thomas� (Scott�s brother) honey-coated basslines, and every shade of clean and fuzzy guitars stacked up like an orchestra. These uncommonly majestic, esoteric pop forms serve as the perfect delivery service for Huerta�s playful and verbose lyrics, which are often presented as semi-autobiographical puzzles.

Taken together, the eight tracks and 24 minutes that make up Rolodex are an epic statement of purpose in a decidedly taut package. One that brought a band back together, more mature and more ambitious than ever.