Taking pop cues from fellow Chicagoans, The Sea and Cake, and tapping into hip-hop’s rhythms (courtesy of DJ White Lightning, whose desert island discs by the way are Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors and Daft Punk’s Homework) Royce delivers up a second dose of everything from introspective campfire songs to bouncy romps praising girls on bikes (one of my favorite songs this year!). They frequently put Chicago’s underground MCs on mic duty to keep things fresh and now. Royce forges music of the future, a pastiche of pop past, present, and tomorrow, launching from where the Slabco family left off. Now if they’d just get out of the Windy City more often…