London quintet Leif Erikson named their band after the Icelandic explorer who beat Christopher Columbus to America. Aptly, there is an exploratory spirit to their sound, and it’s great that their music has made it to the New World just like their namesake.

The band is fresh on the scene, with only their debut single, “Looking For Signs,” to their name. Just as their moniker is a shout out to a simpler past, their sound is reminiscent of the classic rock revivalism of Philadelphia’s War On Drugs and Kurt Vile, but with intricacies that modernize.

Their second single, “Never Get You Out Of My Mind,” is enlivening and purgative, but shaded with melancholy. Classic bass grooves and syncopated drums are interjected with xylophone tings, layers of ringing guitar, and beautiful harmonic oohs. A lover or partner dominating your thoughts for much longer than you deem they should is not a new subject, but when it sounds like this, the universality registers wonderfully and undeniably. Listen.

Tour dates:

05/03 London, UK @ Sebright Arms
05/19 London, UK @ TGE
05/27 Manchester, UK @ Dot To Dot
05/28 Bristol, UK @ Dot To Dot
05/29 Nottingham, UK @ Dot To Dot