(Power Pop, Garage Pop, Indie) Warm Soda - Young Reckless Hearts - 2014, MP3, 320 kbps

When Matthew Melton started Warm Soda after the implosion of his previous group Bare Wires, he switched up his style a bit and opted for a stripped-down and precise power pop update instead of the pounding garage punk he had been doing. The first Warm Soda album worked really well because it made sure to retain plenty of his previous band's energy, and the songs were uniformly excellent examples of the good that can come from mixing up punk and pop. 2014's entry, Young Reckless Hearts, further strips down the group's sound, with songs that cover similar territory and even a couple ("Things That We Said" and "Will I Still Want You? [When I Find You]") that have some tender folk-rock jangle and show a direction the band could successfully head in the future.