Glowing Mouth

Following 2008's Seven Summits and vocalist Kyle Wilson's climbing accident, Milagres returned to the studio for 2012's Glowing Mouth. The record is what one might expect from a quintet of Brooklynites wearing flannels and beards: warm, lush harmonies, acoustic guitars, and thick production that many bands with a bear, horse, or deer in their name share. The problem is, because Glowing Mouth sounds like an imitation of a trend that broke five years earlier, it has a "been there, done that," Brooklyn-by-numbers sort of feel. All that said, there's no ignoring the infectious, soaring melodies, especially in the leadoff tracks, "Halfway" and "Here to Stay." The music of Wilson and his cohorts is as catchy as can be, and well orchestrated in a way that it fits right in with the polite, chamber pop/indie folk tastes of NPR listeners and Paste readers (wholesome enough, in fact, that several music publications found it convenient to throw around Coldplay comparisons at the time of the release). Simply put, there is nothing in particular to love or hate about the band's formula of pop. It's just nice.