By Nicole Villeneuve

Every Tuesday, Torontoist scours record store shelves in search of the city’s most notable new releases and brings you the best—or sometimes just the biggest—of what we’ve heard in Sound Advice.

Though the hype has so far been relatively small (which definitely isn’t a bad thing), Tin Star Orphans have set themselves up as a band to keep watch over. An impressive cohesiveness and maturity permeate the country-fied indie rock sounds of Yonder, the quintet’s debut, out now on Sparks Music.
Reducing Tin Star Orphans to just another alt-country band (not that Torontoist doesn’t love alt-country!) is a bit too simple for the soulful pop force that pushes these fourteen tracks along. Singer Zachary Bennett’s delightfully strange vocals (which belie his somewhat underwhelming wordplay) and the clean, shimmering production (courtesy of Bennett and guitarist Dean Marino, who has worked with Tokyo Police Club, Ruby Coast, and Born Ruffians) serve not only as strong points of the album, but give room for further genre bending, not only in a live setting, but on future projects as well.
It doesn’t get much more gloriously indie rock than the stomping, organ-filled bridge in “Chinese New Year/You Got It,” (in which you’ll also find a borrowed-lyrics-and-vocal-melodies homage to Roy Orbison), and lead single “Let You Down,” with its big chorus and heartfelt (if not a little cliché) plea to “not let me let you down,” is as pleasingly radio friendly as melancholic alt-country gets. Similar to another of Canada’s roots-pop treasures, Elliot Brood, Tin Star Orphans easily jump from pretty to piercing, seamlessly blending raucous noise and carefully arranged rock-outs (“Slack Jaw”). Nods to the instrumental ambition of Neutral Milk Hotel and the more conventional side of an upbeat Wilco are also plenty on Yonder, creating a refreshing musical sophistication and confidence and suggesting that Tin Star Orphans have a scope much broader than the scene that birthed them. Yonder‘s official release show will take place at the Rivoli on Friday, May 29.