New Heaven

The Takeover UK were a short-lived American band who failed to stir up much attention with their hooky but rather commonplace brand of punk-influenced pop. In 2010, ex-members Nic Snyder and Josh Sickels regrouped as 1,2,3, with musical aspirations expanding beyond spiky, guitar-heavy rock. The Pittsburgh duo's best concoction is "Riding Coach," an even-tempered slice of sunny day indie-pop that sounds as if it spent the afternoon in a lawn chair alongside chillwavers Toro y Moi and Washed Out. On "Work," these Rust Belt natives pull off a deliberate working-class anthem via Snyder's strongest vocal performance on the record. (Snyder's dad Gil was the keyboardist in Springsteen/J. Geils-influenced '70s cult heroes Iron City Houserockers, giving the song a little second-hand credibility.) But despite moments of fleeting brilliance, this debut LP is quite the bricolage of indie-rock odds and ends: chamber-poppy arrangements reminiscent of Andrew Bird ("Wave Pool"), bristly alt-country tunes ("Sorry, Soldier") and coy, half-hearted experimentation. On the bright side, it's a relaxed, welcoming listen, and various tunes would fit on any number of mixtapes. But for a songwriting duo that's already shape-shifted once out of sheer necessity, it seems the time has come for Snyder and Sickels to decide who they are once and for all.