The infectious music coming from Gloria is the logical progression of the nostalgic sounds inspired by 1960’s girl groups into something a bit more contemporary. Through an initial listen one can get a certain Ria and The Revellons or Shangri-Las meets The Byrds or even The Zombies kind of feel. However, as one will clearly see, Gloria also squarely fits into the more psychedelic leanings groups from the Girls in The Garage compilations—much like a hybrid of The Chyms and The Models. This is particularly evident with groovers like “Beam Me Up” and “The Highlight.”

In Excelsis Stereo is the perfect album to invoke feelings of reflection. This is because Gloria brings an almost unique a mid-tempo sound that is combined with harmonious vocals to stimulate the mind. This is a kind familiarity is seen with the Spokane, Washington based surf-doo wop band, La Luz.

The key difference between them is La Luz has surf and doo wop to boast, while Gloria has the fuzzy psychedelic trappings of the garage down to a T. Gloria brilliantly occupies this corner of the revitalized “retro” rock n’ roll spectrum and this talent is especially heard via top tracks “Braindead,” Beam Me Up,”—a song worth mentioning twice— and “Shame.” Although these tracks are singled out, listeners would be deprived of an experience almost unlike any other if they didn’t digest this album in its entirety.

Certainly Gloria’s music has the ability to take one back to the glory days of rock n’ roll, but it is important to note that In Excelsis Stereo is the modern twist of a familiar sound. In Excelsis Stero shows a quality unlike any other. For me this album ranks as one of the top releases of this year, and you would be amiss if this wasn’t constantly spinning on your turntable.

Check Out Beam Me Up!