Patio are so fucking good. The band began as a half-joke a few years ago, when music writer Loren DiBlasi met Lindsey-Paige McCloy and decided to start a band together on a whim; they were soon joined by drummer Alice Suh, and they quickly made a name for themselves around New York as a reliably great opener.

Before they had even put out their 2016 debut EP, they played the afternoon opening slot at one of our SXSW shows and rocked it out to an admittedly near-empty room. It’s that kind of energy that they exude on their debut album — an assuredness that comes from the interiority of maybe not always being the main draw, but always winning over the crowd.

And though they may have started off as a gag, they take their music-making seriously, and the cheekily titled Essentials is indeed essential — a great album that doesn’t break a sweat and manages to do everything right. Each song is razor-wire tense, with needling guitars and precise drumming and an agonizing push and pull between DiBlasi and McCloy. My favorite is “Endgame,” a melodic slide of a track that comes through like a woozy nightmare.

Check out the album stream below.

Essentials is out 4/5 via Fire Talk Records. Pre-order it here.