Best of Cleveland 2015: Surf Rock Band

Cities and Coasts' debut album Postcards from the Great Lakes sounds like something the Beach Boys would have recorded if they grew up on Lake Erie instead of the Pacific Ocean. The vibey guitar riffs, soaring harmonies and backing vocals on tracks such as "This New Love" represent a sound singer-songwriter Nathan Hedges wanted to create after a music career spent in and out of bands. "Every time I was in a band there's this conversation: 'What do we want to sound like?' " he says. "Maybe punk is popular or Coldplay is popular." But with Cities and Coasts, Hedges recruited drummer Mike Gould and bassist Jimmy Weaver, both from Welshly Arms, to record an album delightfully flowing with influences from the Beach Boys to the Beatles to the Ronettes. While Cities and Coasts' live shows feature a revolving cast of musicians with Hedges as the one constant, he says each musician understands where the music is coming from. "These songs are all about growing up, falling in love and remembering things you did on the shores of the Great Lakes," he says. "It's all the things that formed all of us." citiesandcoasts.com