Brooklyn band Gift formed on the eve of the pandemic in 2020. Their timing would certainly pose some difficulty, but the five piece group (TJ Freda, Jessica Gurewitz, Kallan Campbell, Justin Hrabvosky, and Cooper Naess) prevailed and released Momentary Presence in 2022. Described by some as psychedelic rock, the band’s sound has strong 80s pop overtones (I definitely hear New Order in the featured track). Their name was inspired by Be Here Now, the 1971 spiritual/meditation tome by American yogi Ram Dass. The group is playing at select US venues in September and is heading across the pond in October for dates in the UK, the Netherlands and France. The band’s latest record, Illuminator, will be out this Friday.