As Earlimart changed musical direction over the years, Ariana Murray and Aaron Espinoza have moved away from grunge-inspired work and started to make music that should be admired by fans of Grandaddy and Sun Airway. On System Preferences, Earlimart paints a pop landscape looking through Beatles-tinted granny glasses. Song fragments drip with Lennon/McCartney sweetness, such as the airy vocal chorus and harpsichord on "U & Me" and the piano-driven descending melody on "Shame." Espinoza's hollow vocals and piano notes on the somber "A Goodbye" feel very Imagine-era John Lennon. Elsewhere, there is Elliott Smith–style delicacy (especially beautiful on "Sweater Weather") and even a hint of Lush/Mazzy Star twilight glow (the woozy "10 Years"). Espinoza and Murray's vocal pairing on "97 Heart Attack," a darkly swaggering song that settles in under the skin, is both intimate and powerful. The collection's most energetic tune, "Internet Summer," is a gorgeous, propulsive number that feels somewhat out of place on this quiet, introspective record. (That doesn't mean we don't love it.)