"Loma Vista" (11 tracks; 39 min.) starts off with the rousing "The Stairs", followed by an even harder-charging "Diversity", one of my favorite tracks on here. Then comes the breezy "St. Croix" (from last year's EP), which is as smooth as silk. "Buried" sounds like the band singing on a beach around a bonfire (with fun lyrics like "Bury me with my guitar/bury me with my T-shirt/bury me with my Chucks", ha!). "Hero" is a pensive tune from Joe, mostly solo on acoustic guitar, a beautiful song. "Living on Love" (also from last year's EP) is a rare track that brings electric guitar to the forefront. "Hey Ma" is a piano-fronted slower song, sounding great. "In The End" is what I would call the "standard" FOTY sound: gorgeous, with lots of vocal harmonizing. The album closer "Find It" brings Joe on acoustic guitar by himself to start, before the rest of the band joins in for a rousing finale. Great way to finish things off!

In all, this is a most pleasing album! The album clips by in no time, covering 11 tracks in about 40 min., and you'll just find yourself playing this again and again. I had the good fortune of catching these guys live recently (opening for Walk the Moon) here in Cincinnati, and what a thrilling 45 min. set they brought, playing many tracks from this album. If you have a chance to see Family of the Year live, do not miss them! Meanwhile, "Loma Vista" is sure to end up in my "best of" albums of the year. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

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