The greatest joys in life come at you unexpectedly, and that is the case with the new single from Dan Rico. Despite being a Chicago-based singer/songwriter, I was completely unfamiliar with him until a couple days ago. His brash garage-pop is immensely enjoyable. It feels like a basement freak out with your friends, only with much better results.

The guitar sounds harken back to Marc Bolan, but also remind me of Christopher Owens work with Girls. The vocals are heartfelt and matter-of-fact, without a lot of playfulness. Still, the songs are breezy, with melodies impactful enough that you’ll be humming them for days.

This new 7″ is available from Shit In Can out of France. The b-side, “Gold Volvo,” is quite fine and could probably be a double A-side if he chose to call it that. You can hear the whole thing (including a bonus track) on bandcamp.

On October 14th, Rico will be performing at Cafe Mustache in Chicago to celebrate the release of the single. Tickets and more info can be found here.