The opening observe on “Tender,” Zzzahara’s sophomore solo album, feels just like the doo-wop-influenced surf pop of the ’50s and ’60s. Then two minutes in, “Dust” delivers the album’s first huge second, a serrated guitar solo that rips by way of the tune’s old-old-days motif and harkens to the lick that powers the grabby 1974 Wings hit “Let Me Roll It.”

It is sudden, nevertheless it’s not stunning for followers of the Angeleno’s first effort, 2022’s “Liminal Spaces.” They’ve once more pulled distinct threads from disparate manufacturers of rock and pop from throughout generations and laced them collectively for a shiny, rough-edged assortment of assorted songs.

“I would describe the sound of Zzzahara as big and melodic,” the singer, guitarist, and songwriter informed Sound of Life in February. “I think the sound sort of morphed naturally into a more mature sound with lots of thought behind it. Honestly, it’s like a medley of different rock genres.”

Most outstanding are the various offshoots of the British Isles’ post-punk motion of the ’80s and ’90s — indie rock, new wave, shoegaze, jangle pop, gothic rock, neo-psychedelia (hardly an exhaustive checklist) — adopted by New York Metropolis’s post-punk revival, then these beachy moods that shine on “Dust” and return in an enormous manner for observe seven, “U.”

Throughout the album, Zzzahara’s informal but wistful vocals smack of confession, of a personal dialog backgrounded by a set of the yard exhibits they attended whereas developing in Southern California. The artist sings of previous love on “Hey Familiar Face,” of frustration and psychological well being on “Girls on SSRIs Don’t Cry,” and of their hometown on “Kensington.”

“I grew up in northeast Los Angeles in the Highland Park neighborhood,” Zzzahara informed Sound of Life. “Growing up felt like an episode of ‘Skins’ but with more diversity, poverty and gang culture. I guess I was raised with street smarts and was able to learn how to navigate through my environment. A cool thing about all the rebellion in Highland Park was the music I was exposed to, and all the cool backyard shows.”

Whereas a lot of what will be mentioned of “Liminal Spaces” will be mentioned of “Tender,” that is to not say the initiatives sound the identical. Zzzahara seemingly may produce 100 albums with the identical strategy with out two songs overlapping (do not rule it out, both; the initiatives got here out 11 months aside). But each tune remains to be unmistakably them, to the purpose {that a} fan of the primary effort listening to the second with virgin ears in a bar needn’t affirm the supply with the bartender.

Pressed to differentiate the information, I would say the latter leans ever so barely extra into that early-aughts NYC scene — Strokes-y, Yeah Yeah Yeahs-y riffs; energetic drums and dour, crunchy, Interpol-y bass strains that propel tracks “IDK How to Luv,” “Peppermint,” and “Hey Familiar Face” — although the sunshine, noodly guitars and chilly drums of Britain’s The Smiths and The Remedy are by no means far, and you could possibly think about the latter’s Robert Smith somberly delivering every lyric.

“It was an honor to blast these out my head,” Zzzahara wrote on Instagram on Sept. 22, “Tender”‘s launch date. “I’ve always been bad at communicating so hopefully this resonates with y’all.”