Late summer afternoons should be spent on front porches or balconies with a cold beverage as the heat of the day burns off into the night. Unfortunately, some of us are just going to have to settle for chillier tunes and frozen lemonade while camped out in front of the AC.

Marthas & Arthurs fits that bumming around mentality with 60s and 70s bubblegum sheen meets The Carpenters: sweet, sometimes breathy vocals and folk melodies so perfect they might lull you to sleep.

The London quartet has fashioned together delightful ribbons of songs that feature everything from tambourine and piano to a downplayed drum set and cheerful xylophone–even the lead singer comes close to a honeyed Karen Carpenter, although with a shorter vocal range.

“Counting The Colours ‘Til Friday” sparkles gold and yellow like an old outdoor Polaroid photograph with the steady snare drum and rolling thrum of a bass guitar. The group veers toward rockabilly percussion with “Shoot You Down,” a somewhat morbid tune about rejection that strolls sticky sweet.

So whether you’re cooling off under the stars or you’re beating the heat inside, Marthas & Arthurs is a relaxing spin that might put you on the porch swing in some other city during simpler times.

Marthas & Arthurs can be found online at Soundcloud, Facebook, and Bandcamp.

“Shoot You Down”

“Counting The Colours ‘Til Friday”

Sal Christ is a writer  with headphones glued to her ears. When she’s not daydreaming about the beach , she’s either getting some hang time upside down or crashing live shows. For more music action, follow her on Twitter.