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The Bloomfields steps out of a time machine from the 60’s, reintroduces golden age music of summery pop and soothing vocal harmonies, and charms us with their naiveté and enthusing stage presence while gamely singing to the tunes of The Beatles and The Beach Boys. Theirs are romanticized melodies ballooning escape and love, sonic flourishes of jangly guitars, steady basslines and sophisticated rhythms that coax everyone to hop, romp and jerkily twist in the streets with their closet mod costumes.

Their debut self-titled album released under major label EMI-Philippines, The Bloomfields is a satisfying nostalgia trip towards the cozy and breezy music of the 50’s, and the 60’s, reminiscent of the heydays of Liverpool beatnik bands, California surf sounds and rock and roll. Fun, witty and rollicking crazy – The Bloomfields’ debut project also serenades its listeners with five originals and 12 covers, all crafted by the band’s youthful energy, passionate playing and delicate arrangements.

Although overflowing, the cover songs are the record’s most vital point which fashionably brings the over all retro-vibe of the band and their penchant for good old rock and roll, sing-along tunes and everything that would make our daddies and mommies proud of. There’s sort of an amateurish display of musicality, but Bloomfields recoups such weakness with charm and ease. The jolly lads made the classic hits sound perfectly rendered, almost near to the recording quality of the original or probably much better in terms of delivery – yet you wouldn’t feel like loathing them for doing such eyebrow-raising interpretations. This is widely showcased on their clear-cut but engaging rendition of The Beatles’ syrupy cuddling gems “If I fell” and “You’re gonna lose that girl,” Elvis Presley’s “King Creole,” Andrew Gold’s “Never let her slip away,” and The Beach Boys’ top40 hits “Little Honda,” “Surfer girl,” and “Wouldn’t it be nice” – the latter being a hands down favorite sing-songy tune in the album.

Yet despite the sincere, true-to-the-bone renditions, attempts to hollow their cultivated retro-guitar pop signature on Astrud Gilberto’s bossanova standard, “Girl from Ipanema” and classic OPM hits like Richard Reynoso’s “Ale” and the comic Tito, Vic and Joey hit “Iskul Bukol” – are promising in terms of capturing indelible moments throughout the course of the listening experience. Their version of Danny and the Juniors’ “At the hop” (also the album’s opener track) on the other hand is surprisingly executed in grand, chamber-like scale; complete with a pedantic rhythm section, cheery and swinging rock and roll beats, subtle but slippery pianos, snowcapped vocal blends akin to the sounds of cherry-cute boy harmonies, and the group handclaps – this gives off the premiere smoking spank and the oomph of the record.

As for the originals, the all-pinoy beatnik band delivers near to pristine sound that still evokes nostalgia and beautiful guitar tunes, but with distinctly glaring pop appeal unmasked by subtle yet carefree music arrangements and honey-sweet lyrics. The tunesmith team-up of Rocky Collado (drummer) and Jay Jay Lozano (guitarist) has promising chemistry. Their collaboration knitted nice songs with strong radio hit potentials and imposing melodies, in which songs like “Say you do,” “The Way I care” and “Alam mo na yun” are among the band’s well-earned product. But the stellar seats belong to the lullaby-twee of “Please don’t go,” with its harmonies soaring and floating romantically in the air, and the carrier single “Wala nang Iba,” a cute, floral dress-approved power ballad that makes girls go nuts and teary-eyed at the same time.

As highly spirited as the music is, The Bloomfields justly proves that they have etched promising careers written all over its name. With its brand of sunshine vintage-music and receptivity for romanticism and the eternal feeling of being madly driven by love – their debut album is able to pull off the trick that made us sit on the couch and listen to the music evoking pure nostalgia and sugarcoated sweetness. We are all suckers for that kind of persuasive trick, and Bloomfields came along in a smack of time to provide us just like that.