San Francisco really is the mecca of garage rock. More garage bands seem to come of that city than anywhere else. These bands range from gritty garage-punk like Thee Oh Sees (John Dywer is a "Sunset") to a more traditional AM radio sound like Sonny and the Sunsets. The later sound is typically cleaner-sounding, reverb-heavy and embraces lyrical themes that would not exactly upset your parents.
Now there are a lot of garage bands out there. What makes the genre so appealing is that the songs are simple, fun and easy to play. This also creates a whole slew of bands with little talent getting up there and having fun but not really writing any good songs (which is not such a bad thing).
Sonny Smith is a gifted song writer fortunately for us and does not suffer from this. The songs he has penned for this album are whole lot of fun and will really get you pumped for the summertime-funtimes ahead. The album has a good mix of the typical range of pop-songs that wouldn't be out of place in California in the 1960's (although they do have a modern edge to them). Highlights of the album are the opening track "She Plays YoYo With My Mind" which has a riff reminiscent to "Dirty Water" by The Standels. "Teen Age Thugs", another one of the "hits" is a dance-y number about war or soldiers or something.
I liked this album a lot, it's really fun and it's getting me psyched (ha!) for summer. Woo!
Similar: Thee Oh Sees, Jonathan Richman, Standells
Rating: 8.5
Fat Possum Records
Released: April 14th 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment