Jinx

“We all get lost, but we all come back,” Crumb’s Lila Ramani sings on the title track to <i>Jinx</i>, providing a succinct mission statement for one of 2019’s most bewitching indie-rock debuts. The New York-via-Boston quartet douse their songs in luxuriant <i>Dark Side of the Moon Safari</i> atmosphere, but a taut, in-the-pocket rhythm section and Ramani’s velveteen voice serve as beacons that guide you through the haze. <i>Jinx</i> conjures the sensation of drifting through a dream that’s equally nostalgic and unnerving, with Ramani’s dazed delivery falling somewhere between resigned and restless. On “Ghostride”, she blithely details the ennui-inducing minutiae of a long road trip as a metaphor for being trapped in a dysfunctional relationship, sheepishly admitting, “The radio reminds me I’m alive.” But Crumb aren't afraid to disrupt their hypnotic reveries with abrupt shifts in course—"Part III” begins as a blissfully narcotic Stereolab sway, before coming to a dead stop and free-falling into a psychedelic jazz abyss. “It’s just a feeling,” Ramani repeats just as she’s about to disappear into the void, but <i>Jinx</i>’s ambiguous beauty lies in the fact that you’re never exactly sure how you should be feeling.