I caught wind of this band through a review over at Collective 'zine. These Long Islanders play a rather ramshackle brand of Emo/Indie/Pop Punk that recalls the greatness of early slack rock like Built To Spill and Pavement. It is upbeat without being too sugary, youthful without being childish and rough enough around the edges that I get a feeling they are really having a good time bashing out these songs. Lyrically, they sing about the sorts of things you would expect boys playing this style of music to be singing about. Heart on sleeve earnestness regarding girls, hopes, friends and being young. I feel like there is a ton of sing-along potential here that elicits images of argyle sweaters and backpacks crushed against the front of the stage with hand claps galore. I have LOVED bands over the years that have played a very similar style to this such as Joan Of Arc, Stratego, Benton Falls, Braid, the Jazz June, Piebald, the aforementioned Built To Spill and pretty much 90% of the Deep Elm Records back catalog. There are also more recent bands having fun with this sound like Algernon Cadwallader, Grown Ups, Street Smart Cyclist, Joie De Vivre and almost every band on Count Your Lucky Stars Records. As of this posting, I have listened to the EP and full length about 8 times through which equals Totally Infectious!! I love the artwork, I love the LO-FIness of the recordings, I love the fact the vocals are rarely in key, especially during the choruses. Basically, this band makes me feel 16 again, and that ain't bad.
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