California

California:

Puro Instinct

CITY: Los Angeles
SONG TO DOWNLOAD: "Stilyagi"
WEBSITE: puroinstinct.bandcamp.com

WHY THEM:Much like last year's California pick of Best Coast, us Massholes look to Los Angeles to find lo-fi bedroom-pop in a city overrun with bloated electro and indie-folk wankers. Despite the growing options within the explosive noise boom up north in the Bay Area, Puro Instinct have captivated us with intoxicating, sun-stained gentle-pop ever since 2010's "Can't Take You Anywhere." Born from Piper and Skylar Kaplan out of the ashes of their previous band, Pearl Harbor, Puro Instinct bolsters the blonde sisters' melodic ease by mixing in four additional bandmates: Cody Porter, Jessie Clavin, Mike Baum, and Crazy Murray. Together, the sextet creates a lush dreamscape of sound with light classic-rock elements and lazy-day harmonies. Hell, NME nicely summed up Puro Instinct as "basically two stoner sisters from LA; for fans of Ariel Pink." Shit, that works for us.

ALSO CONSIDERED: Ganglians — After two years away, this summer's release of Ganglians's Still Living should allow the quirky Sacramento psych-folk quartet to blow the fuck up.

Colorado

Arkansas