Bigwheel "Identity Parade"

Scott Rhodes and Khoi Huynh are Bigwheel, a cool band that kinda sounds like Richard X. Heyman playing for The Barenaked Ladies. The vocal interplay between Rhodes and Huynh also reminds me of The Rembrandts. It also helps that the album was produced by power pop legend Chris Von Sneidern. Lots of the songs are beat and guitar driven melodies that unfold with each chorus. Recommended tracks are the very BNL-like “Over My Head” and the Heyman-like “Anna Lydia”. However the best track to me is the hilarious “I Hate my Band” – it sounds like a rant by some disgruntled rocker forced to play pop he hates, but he loves the fan attention too much to quit. This 2005 album is available on emusic. Some years ago, Bigwheel had a much talked about release “Rugby Train” – it came out in ’99 and you can get that on emusic too. Both albums are great examples of tight song structure and harmonies.