Local Natives

Local Natives are a Los Angeles based indie pop band that produces melodic songs with an expansive, big screen sound. They differentiate themselves from a lot of their stylistically similar peers in their emphasis on vocal harmonies and the way they bring the beat, specifically the drums, up front and center in their music. They had a soft spot for the "calm in the eye of the storm" thing Thom Yorke (of Radiohead) popularized, where the singer holds on to long notes while the band is pushing up a high tempo beat. The band's earlier work was aligned closely with indie folk in a lot of ways, but now they have gone deeper into the pop territory.  Their hooks can be pretty catchy. They are not a band with any hard edges or dark undertones. Their more recent albums have some clearly dance-oriented numbers along with their usual uptempo music.