A follow-up to Aer's 2011 debut album, The Reach, the 2012 release The Bright Side finds the Wayland, Mass., group honing its rhymes, phrasing, beats, and toasting. Aer specializes in crafting uplifting, reggae-tinged hip-hop: the kind that fuels the fire of unforgettable college parties in the spirit of Sublime (to the dismay of hard-ballin’ players). The opening cut, “Go,” bobs and bounces on buoyant beats as David von Mering and Carter Schultz exchange verses with laser precision. “Floats My Boat” follows with a mellower rhythm, as the dynamic duo muses on rooftop partying, shamelessly rhyming about the preferred vices with which to warm up the weekend. There’s a brilliant moment in “Few Times” where the fine line between reggae toasting and hyper-phrased hip-hop rhyming become as blurred as their clouded vision. The outstanding single “Like the Way” sounds like one of those escapist vessels created to pull in an artist from the doldrums of suburban boredom—and it works. Von Mering and Schultz paint a colorful narrative that fantasizes about living a Southern California lifestyle while stuck in a cul-de-sac reality.