Cannons

The numbers on Spotify don’t lie: Cannons is popular and it’s clear why. The group presents completely problem-free tracks that ooze a too-smooth style of stifled glam disco. You would be wrong to call it this decade’s version of easy listening, though—it’s bubbly pop music built for areas where they’ve had success: TV show placement. With their fine-tuned look and sound the band is unsurprisingly from Los Angeles, but Cannons may represent the last bastion of pop still connected to a more-or-less real rock band (though it’s difficult to discern what’s playback). And as a live act, dudes on guitar, bass/keys, and drums back up Michelle Joy, who is every bit the ’80s vision of a female lead singer—but it’s best you project your own ideas onto that archetype. The group’s newest record, Heartbeat Highway, adds to its collection of glossy, well-produced tracks that never drop to sluggish ballads nor rev into higher gears. If ever there was a band who would score top marks for offering the perfect soundtrack for overpriced hotel lobbies, it’s got to be Cannons. Having said that, there’s no shame in being proactive about sidestepping the Sunday Scaries; wrap yourself in Joy’s lush vocals for a while and take a mini-vacation from reality on the Downtown Mall.—CM Gorey