Hell yes, Way Yes.

From the folks that brought you past ETTS act  Dominant Legs, Lefse Records is back and starting the summer off right with a little EP from Columbus, Ohio trio Way Yes called - appropriately enough - Walkability. As the title suggests, this is perfect for adding to your mp3 player, slipping on a pair of ear-buds and taking a stroll through your neighbourhood. The tropical vibes propelling off-kilter indie-pop songs remind me of past favourites Secret Cities' Strange Hearts album, their Western Vinyl label-mates Callers, and even Victoria, B.C. act Chet - whose Kauai is a criminally overlooked record.

At a brief 5 songs and seconds shy of 20 minutes, striding to the pace of Walkability will get you two-thirds of the way to your daily recommended 30 minutes of exercise, and you'll likely want to hit repeat at least once and give 133% effort.

The title track (below) shimmers into view like heat rising from the hood of a car on a sun-baked stretch of highway and then the band intones its 'go it alone' lyrics: "don't need no breakups / don't need no friends at all / they'll just bring heartache ... it's walkability / it doesn't matter to me." The subtly reverb-ed and ringing guitar line surfs above the waves of percussion before washing ashore on a beach of electronic noise that bends itself into the beat that pushes "Important" forward.
  Way Yes - Walkability by yvynyl 

I believe I've made mention in the past of having a bit of a dark fascination with composing the playlist for my own funeral, and I may just have to include "Singing" with its optimist outlook on going out on a positive note: "I get older every day / I get closer to my death / and I hope / that when I go / I'll be singing." Maybe that'll leave the crowd in a positive place as they scatter my ashes in the South Saskatchewan River valley.
  Way Yes - "Singing" by Some Kind of Awesome

I may be writing about Lefse label-mate Teen Daze and his great new record All Of Us, Together in the next few days (he plays the LO Pub here in Winnipeg next Wednesday, June 20th), but in the meantime, you can pre-order Walkability at Lefse Records web store.