HABIBI - ANYWHERE BUT HERE LP + 7"

Brooklyn's Habibi brought an explosive and celebratory fun to their self-titled 2014 debut. That brief collection was overflowing with bubblegum melodies, upbeat pop, and the kind of giddy excitement that bands only revel in during their earliest stages. Six years later, sophomore album Anywhere But Here retains some of that excitement, but sees the band expanding into moodier expression, more complex songwriting, and an expanded instrumentation that includes occasional Middle Eastern touches. This kind of progression was hinted at on the band's 2018 EP Cardamom Garden, which saw them incorporating Persian hand percussion and lyrics sung in Farsi into shadowy rock tunes. Anywhere But Here splits its track list between higher-energy power pop songs like the attitude-heavy "Misunderstood" and more simmering, downtempo slow burns like "Flowers." On the moodier songs, spindly surf-rock guitar leads blur into reverb-coated vocal harmonies. The relaxed pace and sun-dazed