Album Of The Week: HAIM Days Are Gone

I am absolutely outing myself as a lame sentimental dad here, but I can't think about HAIM, the young and ridiculously talented band of California sisters, without imagining how proud their parents must be. I practically explode with pride every time I hear my daughter atonally howl along to the Annie soundtrack, so it's tough to conceive of what the parents of the Haim sisters must be going through. If you watch them onstage, the three sisters, all in their early-to-mid-20s, seem self-possessed and present in ways that much more seasoned bands are still trying to figure out -- and they all seem to genuinely like each other, which is an accomplishment in itself. Now, with their first album, they've made an LP of assured and fizzy pop music, one that sounds utterly of-the-moment without conforming to a single recent trend. There's not one underwhelming song on the whole thing, and the level of shimmering craft is through the roof. They seem to have their sound totally figured out, and even the most forgettable songs have so many tiny swirling hooks that it takes weeks of listening to sniff them all out. I've never met the sisters in HAIM, and I'm proud of them. Their family must be over the moon.