"Minimalist-inspired, vintage pop. For fans of The Zombies, Jimmy Buffet and Jackie Deshannon."
HAHAHAHAA!
Ahem...sorry. Phew.
That is the "editorial review" you will find on the Amazon page for the Smith Westerns 2011 release "Dye It Blonde."
Prior to an e-mail I received earlier this week from our friend "cmealha" containing the song below...
...I knew nothing about this band. But the song grabbed me immediately, so I went fishing.
As per usual with new bands, it's never going to be a homerun. In the case of the Smith Westerns, they seem to have the ability to write the hooks and melodies, and their Marc Bolan meets Teenage Fanclub production works half the time.
Here's another one-
Bottom line- I really enjoyed this record, stupid Amazon description notwithstanding.
The Smith Westerns have a new record on deck, "Soft Will," set for a June 25th release. "Dye It Blonde" is good enough to keep me interested in where they are headed. See what you think.
(h/t cmealha)
4 comments:
can't wait to listen and love the mashup and wonder how many others people could come up with, real imagined.
"for fans of Bread, AC/DC and the Kingston Trio"
I like it.
Spot-on description of their sound... I'm a huge T-Fanclub fan. Surprised to not see them a little more in your mixes, knowing your Todd Rungren fixation. And lately I've been loving early T-Rex... got his first LP on vinyl and it's sweet madness.
Thanks again for this "new band" referral.
I'm deeply suspicious of music in which every aspect of the sound reminds me of something else. As if they employed those by-now-famous algorithms to design music specifically to appeal to music geeks. If they turn out to be any good, I'll be a late comer to this party.
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