Sparkadia

Sparkadia express those sentiments typically scratched across the thin cardboard missives their debut album takes its name from: the variety that are clever, affecting, disposable and written in a style where the I’s are dotted with tiny hearts. “Don’t tell me that we’re not connected,” vocalist Alex Burnett pleads in “Connected.” “Up in the Air” is purely winsome, all while articulating genuine romantic strife: “But all we do is fantasize that the answer’s in the sky / everything’s up in the air.” Only this isn’t fragile twee pop of the Matinee Records strain: It’s stuffed with energy and bombast. Sparkadia are more about building toward eye-rolling climaxes than crafting lovely subtleties. Hear the skyrocketing choruses of “Just Let Go” on “Morning Light” or the beatific vocal melody and agitated strings on the aforementioned “Connected”—peaks that approach fellow Australians the Go-Betweens or Peter Bjorn & John. Despite low points that result from being too derivative—the New Wave redux guitars on “Animals,” the New Order-like rhythm section of “Jealousy,” Burnett’s occasional Chris Martin falsetto—Postcards has enough moments of splendid originality to hint at fuller, more mature efforts.