Category: Power Pop Review

From Brooklyn, the creatively named Chariots of Tuna play a lovely baroque alternative pop. The light falsetto vocal harmonies and matching jangle guitars on “War Hero” are just a delight. The Shins flavored “Save Me Maryann” and Beach Boys styled composition “Air” are a nice teaser to this three song EP (so far) which is still in the working stages. The driving force here is Ben Morss (Cake, Wheatus) who blends influences of new and old pretty well. Similarities to Brooklyn-mates The Creaky Boards aside, they are still working on a distribution deal, hopefully we’ll get more tracks soon!

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From Madrid, Spain comes Insanity Wave. They’ve been an indie fixture since 1991 across the pond, but now are making more of an attempt to reach fans here in the USA. Produced by Mitch Easter, the band plays muscular guitar rock that’s similar to Wilco with a touch of Teenage Fanclub pop mixed in. They have also appeared at International Pop Overthrow at Liverpool at 2006. Late Night Shift opens with”Secluded Heart,” a catchy composition with a solid melody and steady guitar work. “This Girl” has echoes of Tom Petty, and “Please Drive Carefully” could have fallen off the last Wilbury’s album. Lead singer Jose Martinez Escriña seems to channel both Petty and Dylan’s vocal phrasing. The apt “Feeling so High” is fully of trippy psychedelic touches. The 60’s garage style works great on “Something To Hide” with strong rhythm backing up the lead guitar and Farfisa organ. The band reverts to Rolling Stones mode on “Nothing’s Gonna Hurt Us Now” with full harmonies to back up Jose’s Jagger impersonation, but the song isn’t that memorable. Insanity Wave is a solid rock group that hopefully we’ll hear more from.

Listen to “Something to Hide” – Wanna see a mini documentary of the band? It includes interviews from Mitch Easter and Peter Holsapple. The beginning is in Spanish, but stick with it.

The Thromboes are Larry Levy (Histrioniks) on vocals/guitar, Dave Powers on bass and Bongo LaHair (?) on drums. The group can be defined as a poppy garage punk style. When the album starts out “Let me touch your junk…” you know you’re in for something different. Unfortunately this clever lyrical approach on “Junk” isn’t on more tracks here. Larry makes the next track a funky beat ride, as “She’s Like A British Car,” resembles The Shadows fronted by Frank Zappa and The Mothers. And the fact that Cat Levy also lends her backing vocal talents to this helps make it the best track here. “Closed Doors and Cigarettes” and “I’m on The Underground” have a wall of sound styled guitar production that is a compelling listen. “Man In The Way” resembles the Cynics a bit with the full echoing reverb sound and aggressive beat. This approach is repeated in several tracks like “Shutter” and the appropriately written tune “Don’t Get Into My Head.” It flirts with a 50’s narrative style on “Back To The (Concrete Pond)” which is a lot of fun, like a garage version of The B-52s. And it ends off with a well played instrumental (“Overture To The Sun”). So, if you’re into this style of retro garage rock, it’s a very good entry in the genre.

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Spain Colored Orange “Sneaky Like A Villain”
Opening with a lovely harmony-filled intro, The Spain Colored Orange are a Houston Texas group with an affection for all kinds of music from The Beatles to Radiohead. Lead by trumpet player Eric Jackson, and lead singer Gilbert Alfaro, “Who Am I?” is psyche pop with jazz touches here and there and the tone shifts around making it impossible to pigeonhole the band, but it does remind me of Camper Van Beethoven. “Hide” is lead by synths, beats and Gilbert’s sleepy vocal. Pop fans will enjoy the highlight tune “Cheap Thrills” – full of playful piano and so many melodic changes, you’d swear it’s Bryan Scary. The band is fearless, and it’s quirky shifts in tone and tempo can be very challenging to sit through. Buried through this are some hooks, like “Better Left Alone” is like synth and horn heavy High Llamas. Musical nods to XTC are on “Birds and Bees” and Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd on “Uh, Oh Trouble” each with a horn solo. But as often as it succeeds, it also fails to salvage songs that cannot decide where to go like “You Think You Know” and the dreadful “Better Left Alone.” I would recommend this to diehard psyche-pop fans who are into a musical melange. Very much like a fried egg and peanut butter sandwich, it’s definitely an acquired taste.

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La Snacks “New Fangled” EP

This is going to be the biggest power pop show of the year. After last year’s success James Deem has stocked this 2nd annual event with even bigger bands. In fact you will probably not see this many stars in one festival.

The first day, Thursday – The Posies will make a rare concert appearance and only one night. Only 100 tickets will be sold for this intimate performance.

All proceeds from Charlotte Pop Fest benefit The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science.