You will be listening to The Mowgli’s “San Francisco” six months from now on the radio.

There is no other way around it.  Once you listen to their five-track EP “Love’s Not Dead”, there is no way to get it out of your head. But why would you want to? It is as if some studio executive used the traditional formula of brain-dead lyrics and a ridiculously catchy beat to churn out another hit.

The only problem with that theory is that The Mowgli’s aren’t a corporate-spawned supergroup. Instead, the future rulers of the airwaves are a group of dirty hippies.
Don’t believe me? The following quote is taken directly from their website:

“The eight-piece started in a garage in the San Fernando Valley where many of them grew up. They’re bound together by an intricate social web that dates back to childhood and their harmonies carry a message of universal love and togetherness. Brother and sisterhood. It’s all about unity, having a good time, and the idea that humanity can achieve a higher level consciousness.”

Barf.

However, if you manage to silence the inner cynic like I miraculously did, you really will find good music, for the most part.

“Great Divide,” while not as instantly catchy as “San Francisco,” actually tells a cohesive story while maintaining the choral style found in its predecessor.  “Time” features nothing more than standard guitar chord progressions, but this allows the lyrics to truly shine. The final two tracks – “Slowly, Slowly” and “Carry Your Will” – are nothing special but are not particularly offensive.

For anyone keeping score at home, that’s three good songs out of five; a better track record than most contemporary mainstream musicians (I’m looking at you, fun.).

But comparing The Mowgli’s to mainstream acts misses the point. Do not treat “Love’s Not Dead” as the big picture for this group of bad hairstyles and even worse fashion sense. Instead, treat the EP as an appetizer for what’s to come, and if “San Francisco” is any hint, the future is looking

Pay the $4.05 on iTunes (or, for the cheapskates like me, $3.75 on Amazon) and in the short-run listeners will get a stellar song, two great songs and two forgettable ones. In the medium-run, you’ll get the bragging rights of telling your friends that you knew about “San Francisco” before it was overplayed alongside the latest Carly Rae Jepsen single or Adele smash, and in the long run you’ll be paying for the hacky-sacks and bongo drums that undoubtedly serve as the inspiration for these free-loading musical geniuses.

Stupid hippies.