The Twilight Garden

On Hope, the Twilight Garden’s Todd Loomis makes no bones about the stylistic and sonic debt he owes to the Cure and other acts. Opening track “Falling Rain” has a Disintegration-like lush grandeur; “Falling in Circles” bears a jubilant yet emotionally raw quality akin to the Sound’s Shock of Daylight period, but without the unmistakably downbeat tone; and “Fixation” recalls the Cure’s “Cold” and Magazine’s Secondhand Daylight — without sounding derivative of either. “Trail of Tears, Part I,” meanwhile, breaks up the dusky post-punk vibe with a decidedly industrial sound punctuated by strident vocals. While the sound strikes familiar chords and nudges your sense of nostalgia, it also feels refreshingly vibrant in a way that dark music rarely does these days.