“Kiss Me Like You Mean It” by Silk Daisys

Listening to Silk Daisys’ self-titled debut, it’s immediately apparent where they’re coming from, musically speaking. Cocteau Twins. Lush. The Breeders. The Jesus and Mary Chain. The Sundays. You get the idea. Karla Jean Davis and James Abercrombie — the Atlanta-based couple behind the moniker — have emulating all of their favorite ’90s alt-rock sounds down to a science. Indeed, the first time I pressed “Play” on the album and “It’s a Laugh” kicked on, I thought I’d stumbled across some long-forgotten Velocity Girl single.

That sense of familiarity occasionally works against the album, preventing it from developing an identity that’s fully its own. But on a song like “Kiss Me Like You Mean It,” the duo does precisely that. Gala-era Lush might be the obvious touchstone, but Silk Daisys make that sound their own thanks to Davis’s immaculate harmonies, some goth-y synths that brush across the song’s periphery like so many cobwebs, and Abercrombie’s fiery soloing.

“Kiss Me Like You Mean It” sounds like it’s been channeled from a parallel universe where Ivo Watts-Russell is still signing dreamily unique bands who are patiently waiting to be adorned by Vaughan Oliver’s lush artwork. In other words, a parallel universe I’d love to visit. In the meantime, the song definitely heralds the arrival of a new talent in today’s dream pop scene, and leaves me excited to see how Davis and Abercrombie continue to refine and mature their sound.

Silk Daisys is currently available via Bandcamp.