Los Angeles — Jack Antonoff is no rookie to the music scene and it shows in his new band. The former Steel Train front man and current lead guitarist for fun. has been once again reborn as Bleachers and the debut LP, Strange Desire, is a fully developed radio-friendly prize. While Antonoff should have been resting while on fun.’s international tour last year, he found himself instead roused to write songs about innocence lost. The resulting intelligent, flashy lyrics and surging sound makes Strange Desire one of the most infectious albums of 2014 thus far.

Antonoff’s admitted inspiration from John Hughes’ famous films is apparent from start to finish. If theBreakfast Club were ever remade, “Wild Heart” would make an ideal score for the iconic scene where John Bender pumps up his arm after detention.  The three minute opening track is a high-energy dive into the pop indie rock album with thick keys, Antonoff’s familiar voice, and echoing background vocals. “Wild Heart” prepares listeners for a retro 80s journey that’s easy on the ear, and also a satisfying and heart-pounding leap that is refreshingly current.

While the songs are well rounded and varied in tone, subject matter, and melody, they remain thematically aligned. Like Hughes’ beloved films, the album is so relatable because it’s about the uncertainty and confusion that we all experienced during our school days. Teen-like crushes, loss, and a desire to break free might begin at puberty, but they last for the rest of our lives and those topics persist for the entire album as well.

“Rollercoaster” is no song to be skipped over with its bubbly melody and nostalgic words; however the third track, “Shadow,” is the next standout with a triumphant tone like a cleansing spell. As Antonoff and his helpers chant “If you’re feeling small, I love your shadow,” listeners are tempted to lift their arms up to the sky and spin in a fury. That sort of freeing accent is likely why the band has booked all the major music festivals of the summer before an actual album release: Bleachers played last month’s Governor’s Ball and are billed on mega fests like next month’s Outside Lands and October’s Austin City Limits. Their booming jams raise the adrenaline and throw youthful punches that the particular festival devotees crave on their weekend getaways.

Just when it seems like the album has taken on a predictable sparkly melody as displayed on tunes like “I Wanna Get Better,” the tempo slows down.  The following “Wake Me” and “Reckless Love” never lose that ring of confidence the record commands, however. “Wake Me” and “Reckless Love” are steady ballads about sweet, uninhibited devotion — the kind of love that is so possessing and beautiful that it is terrifying. The emotionality that Antonoff was bullied for in his school days allows him to sleekly slip in sweet sensitivity among the pounding pop indie rock.

The pleasant surprises aren’t just at the LP’s close either. “I’m Ready To Move On” becomes the album’s most experimental track when a woman’s deep husky voice drops, stealing the spotlight as she sings, “I’m ready to move on.” Antonoff computerizes his voice to reinvent the once high-spirited “Wild Heart” into a gloomy mish mash of instruments. It’s the only track the album could remain complete without, but it’s also a reminder to listeners that this album is a spill of expression that just happens to be hooky —a kind of emotional release that came when he wasn’t too busy winning Grammys for fun.

Antonoff’s particular coming of age and end of innocence came following the death of his sister at 18, 9/11, and the death of his cousin in Iraq, but Strange Desire is about the kinds of epiphanies that come in the wee hours of the morning. When the folk tinge rolls in for the “Who I Want You To Love” finale, the beats slope down further, and hollers of oohs and aahs blast. A sexy electric guitar solo drips “because it all hurts,” but Antonoff, again, doesn’t dwell on his anguish.

The album is inspired by the realization that life will go on and no matter what the obstacle, we will survive.Strange Desire is a celebration of the complexity of life and its lessons. Antonoff is surviving life’s doses of euphoria and its tragedies, and as a result, he’s made some damn good music for us to sing with along the way.

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Ariela Kozin

Ariela was born and raised on Los Angeles' creative hunger and booming sounds. She grew up humming the Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan records her mother played on repeat until a driver's license gave her the freedom to obsessively explore the live music scene. It only seemed natural that when Ariela went to journalism school, she paired her love of writing with her passion for discovering amazing new music.

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