The Philadelphia-based The Swimmers put out a new release “Fighting Trees” is a tight collection of a dozen well produced tracks constructed with sparse instrumentation and satisfying Beatleseque melodies. Fans of The Shins and Spoon will enjoy the opener “It’s Time They Knew” before diving headlong into the aforementioned strummer “Heaven.” I would swear Ringo is on drums here. Then we get the Wilco meets New Pornographers pop in tracks “We Love To Build” and “Miles From Our Fears.” The Swimmers have become a bit of an “under the radar” sensation locally, and with the synth popped ballads and the kind of dreamy harmonies, handclaps, piano runs make it easy to love. This is primarily pop music that is easy on the ear and ipod friendly. Raggedy guitars and pounding drums enliven harder-rocking songs, like “It’s Time They Knew” and “St. Cecilia”. Infectious melodies run through the entire album, although the ending ballad “Fighting Trees” gets a bit labored. Through it all lead singer Steve Yutzy-Burkey has focused on three of the great themes of pop music: lost youth, thwarted love and the fear of death. The tandem of “Your Escape” and “Goodbye” hit this spot right on. This is serious stuff, yet couched in such likeable, easily absorbed musical settings that you hardly notice the angst. And in a way, isn’t that the secret of great power pop? You’re humming along to philosophy’s most serious questions…but with a big smile on your face.