Dear Nora was formed in Portland around the turn of the century, but the raw quality of their first recordings and the two-part harmonies make it sound as though they were a product of the 60s. Led by singer, guitarist and principal songwriter Katy Davidson, Dear Nora seemed interested in nothing more than churning out two-minute nuggets of sweet, high-energy guitar pop about the trials and tribulations of being a teenager.

You Make Me Smile was Dear Nora’s first release for Magic Marker Records, a four-song vinyl EP that laid the groundwork for the band’s first album, We’ll Have A Time. You Make Me Smile is Dear Nora at its most upbeat and unrestrained, qualities one could attribute to the band’s relative youth (the trio had only recently graduated from college). The band’s next release was actually a solo outing by Davidson; Dreaming Out Loud is another EP of eight songs, all recorded in Davidson’s bedroom in one day and exhibiting a much quieter, introspective sound. 2001’s We’ll Have A Time was a mix of the band’s first two Magic Marker releases, mixing more energetic material like “Round And Round” and spare bedroom pop like “Springtime Fall.”