The Drums‘ are the Brooklyn-based indie-pop quartet that are responsible for producing some of the best and most infectiously upbeat, pop songs to grace the Internet in the past few months. Their debut EP, Summertime!, is the perfect pairing for the fantastically flavorful rum-spiked dulce de leche featured on eating/sf today. This recipe won’t be denied: just one taste and you’ll find yourself heaping gooey, sweet spoonfuls well past the normal tolerance of your sweet tooth. Likewise, the cuts on the Drums’ Summertime! have the type of melodies that will drill a mainline to the serotonin-producing parts of your brain. You’ll find yourself humming “Saddest Summer,” “Let’s Go Surfing” and “Don’t Be a Jerk, Jonny” in your sleep.

The Drums draw upon equal parts 80′s new wave and 60′s surf rock in crafting their brand of pop-rock. And the blend has been pretty warmly received in the music world. England has been especially receptive to their charms (BBC listed them as one of the top 5 bands to watch in 2010 and NME listed them as the #1 band to watch in 2010), a fact which I find to represent a fun touch of irony. See, back in 1963, surf rock was making a killing on the U.S. charts before Walter Cronkite featured a certain mop-topped British quartet on the national news and thereby paved the way for the British Invasion in early 1964 that simply pwned the U.S. charts – and for all intents and purposes led to a total wipeout for surf rock. Of course, it’s unlikely that the Drums represent some sort of surf rock invasion of the U.K., and its not clear how integral the surf rock touches on tracks like “Let’s Go Surfing” and “Saddest Summer” really are to the band’s overall sound. Nonetheless, this is definitely an album to help break you out of a dreary winter and make you bob your head and tap your toes.

The Drums – Saddest Summer

Head back to eating/sf to read the recipe for rum-spiked dulce de leche.