Mikal Cronin came out of the same setting in Laguna Beach, California that also produced Ty Segall. The two were not only high school buddies, reportedly, but Cronin's first album, Reverse Shark Attack (2009) was their joint project. That pretty much captures the starting point of his career: rugged garage rock with plenty of good noise. Where he began to stylistically diverge from that scene was a couple of albums in when he came to embrace his melodic side and started to incorporate power pop into his work. There was also a stretch of time there where he gravitated towards a classic rock oriented sound. Currently, he is engaged in a tuneful form of indie rock with sophisticated arrangements including horns and strings, fairly removed from his garage roots.