You know your tone deaf mate, those X-Factor contestants that make the thing watchable, Ian Brown at festivals? It’s not their fault, not really. It’s life’s big see-saw, ying ‘n’ yang (or ying and nnnnnnnnng) you see. Because they have none, sorts like The Little Ones have to wear life-jackets so as not to drown in their allocation. Their place is figuratively like an 80s children’s hospice the morning after Challenge Anneka choppered off into the distance leaving rooms rammed full of cuddly toys and comforts. What we’re trying to say in an around about way is that melody and harmony thrive like bacteria behind a hospital bed under their stewardship. But then they are from California – it is kind of written into the State legislature for anyone handling a musical instrument. The Beach Boys, also probably by law, clearly own a strain of their DNA, but its more recent Europeans using this influence that ring chimes of recognition, with The Thrills, Shout Out Louds and Delays (sans the unsuccessful ‘modern’ synth pretensions) all evoked throughout this fine debut record. The main difference being that none of them, though Shout Out Louds got close, have made a record as glisteningly consistent as ‘Morning Tide’. From the chirped psychedelic harmony and gaily bounding beats of the title track, to the less bitter Clap Your Hands Say Yeah twinkles of ‘Boracay’ and the Beatlesy Ben Folds-esque ‘Everybody’s Up To Something’ nothing can get between the cracks. A repercussion of such consistency is that no one track stands up and takes the charge and nice boys tend to get pushed aside. Utterly charming though if you’ll give it a chance.