Forth Wanderers started with an innocent crush. Back in high school in Montclair, NJ, guitarist Ben Guterl sent singer Ava Trilling a tape of his guitar rock and she returned it, overlaid with her vocals and lyrics. A few years and self-released albums later, in 2016, they released an outstanding EP of emotionally eviscerating slacker-rock tunes, Slop. Ben is almost 22 now, a senior at Oberlin College, and Ava’s 20, living as a student in New York City. The pair and their three bandmates just signed to Sub Pop for their debut self-titled album, which advances Forth Wanderers’ singular, still-blooming chemistry.

Forth Wanderers’ greatest skill is bonding Ben’s glowing guitar arrangements to Ava’s gut-wrenchingly direct lyrics and melodies, and “Not for Me,” the album’s first single, is the band at its tightest. Over crisp, ascending guitar and a rush of drums, Ava croons about a romance that feels otherworldly: “I can’t feel the Earth beneath my feet,” she sings. By the end, the instrumentals have loosen and Ava repeats, “I am bare and unread/Open and eager to the touch of your hand.” That’s how “Not for Me” sounds—supple yet raw, naïve and wise at the same time, and definitely a little painful. It’s captivating to encounter the talent and depth of such young guns, and Forth Wanderers are only getting better.