If by Yes + Summer Fiction

The bicoastal If by Yes is anchored around Yuka Honda (NYC) and Petra Haden (L.A.), whose assorted musical day jobs awarded them the frequent-flyer points that, more than any guitars or drums, gave this band life. The band's debut album, Salt on Sea Glass, feels like some impossibly cosmopolitan soirée, featuring slick Japanese musicians Yuko Araki and Hirotaka Shimizu, drop-in spots from international tastemakers Cornelius and David Byrne, and songs about avant-garde fashion houses and unconventional time signatures.