‘Talulah’s Tape’ is a swirling tapestry of trebly pop demos that conjures the best of Midwestern suburbia and its bubble gum-tinted memories of adolescence. It sounds like recess fourth downs—where strategy boils down to “Go out long,” like little fingers caked in loamy dirt searching for roly-polies, like popped driveway tar bubbles, and dreadful school hot lunches. It’s a record that hisses, shakes, and nervously asks to dance. It is the sound of youth; it is the sound of the youth beat. 

The Indianapolis music collective formerly known as ‘Talulah God’ offers forty-five minutes of beautiful twee pop songs on their debut record. The record, ‘Talulah’s Tape,’ is a collection of sixteen warm 4-track demos recorded by the band over a four-year period (2021-2024). Despite the record finding its origins in scattered demos, it never feels desultory. Every song and every non-sequitur feels perfectly necessary and is sewn in a way that simply makes sense. Each part fits the technicolor whole; it exists as a series of frames that, when run together, create a coherent and honest picture. 

The record begins with ‘Down on Me,’ a charming gem of a pop song fit for a tween coming-of-age film. The guitar is jangly, and the harmonies and melody are delicate. The lyrics are fragile and earnest, projecting a distinct sense of longing—a theme throughout the record. Despite this, the instrumentation and melody draw warmth; it sounds like the first breath of sun coloring the sky’s uniform of TV-grey. ‘Wallace,’ another standout track, finds the Good Flying Birds turning the gain up on their amps for a fuzzy, driving number that demands attention. ‘Every Day Is Another’ is a beautifully delicate love song that separates itself from the rest of the tape by featuring a drum machine as opposed to acoustic drums. This works beautifully for such a fragile number that elicits the more anxious moments and pitfalls of coming of age. The lyrics read like a diary entry, or the words you’d wish you could write in your crush’s yearbook. 

In between the earnest tracks exist many sound bites, which keep the listener on their toes and give the record a distinctly fresh and modern edge. “Bruh,” Spongebob clips, and various other comedic sound bites read like a Gen-Z brain-rotted Robert Pollard, and I’m absolutely certain that the listener, like I, will be 100% here for it. The songs dance between echoes of ‘Guided by Voices’ in the catchy choruses and treble, the candy-coated shimmer of ‘The Pastels,’ and Glasgow’s twee pop scene. 

‘Talulah’s Tape’ is a beautifully earnest and well-crafted record. It sounds like the soundtrack to a tween coming-of-age film you watch and love, then forget about for twenty years until a rainy afternoon matinee with your family reminds you of just how good that soundtrack was. If this is the future of the Indiana music scene, it makes me not so hesitant to want to come home on breaks. The young vignettes that I’ve assigned to the candy-colored melodies are ones I wish I could live in forever—little popped tar bubbles I’d gladly occupy. I adore this record, I adore ‘The Good Flying Birds,’ and I cannot wait to see what they do next.

Talulah’s Tape was originally released on Rotten Apple in 2025. It is set to be reissued October 17. You can preorder Talulah’s Tape now one vinyl, CD and cassette.

Written by Jack Massucci