Kevin McGachy (Dewey Lester – his psych-country alter ego) and Craig McNally (The 6:03 – a train???) are kindred spirits with a shared love of sun-dappled nostalgia and toe-tapping melodies. This debut collaboration is pitched as a love letter from one West Coast to another (Scotland to the USA) and despite the ostensible setting of Summer ’72, the naively optimistic and psychedelic ’60s are a more apt touchstone.

The opening song features Revolver-era guitars and harmonised repetition of the title character, evoking The Beach Boys or The Byrds, and not for the last time. You’ll be hard pressed to find any cynicism in these blasts of musical positivity. “Gave you my hand / You are my only girl” McGachy gushes on ‘I Always Knew’, promising his love to the moon and back among other platitudes that might even get an eyebrow raise from 1964 Brian Wilson. There’s a hint of the baroque in occasional string flourishes (‘It’s Alright’) as well as era-appropriate organ/mellotron sounds on ‘Her Name Could Be Anybody’ that recall The Free Design and Love. Not to mention the jangly goodness of Teenage Fanclub in ‘June & Lorelei’ and the brassy incursions Belle & Sebastian were making in the late ’90s in the ‘The Fine Major’s Prayer.’

There may be clear precedents, but that doesn’t hold the album back from standing well on its own terms; it’s a celebration of simple pleasures and music that anyone can enjoy. There are many earnest declarations of love and joy, but there’s still just a hint of darkness beneath the sunny veil. ‘Take the Weight’ revels in CSNY homeliness, but there’s an uneasy tension in the hosts’ increasingly desperate attempts to waylay their guests, an unease that turns to sadness when you remember it’s a song about visiting your parents.

But even with occasionally maudlin turns (like the interpolation of the ‘Last Post’ in ‘The Fine Major’s Prayer’, a fuzzy tribute to McGachy’s serviceman brother), Summer ’72 is really about twinkly keys and strummed guitars, a host of “ohhhhhhh” and “oooooooh”s and a revitalisation of sounds that are falling out of vogue but can still hit you right in the feels. Peek behind the curtain if you like, but it’s not a requirement for enjoying these lovely songs.