squidpants

so I got a new CD awhile ago and I finally got to listen to it. It's "I Can't Go On, I'll Go On" by The Broken West, a power pop band from Los Angeles. I actually bought the CD at their pretty ho-hum show June 1 at the Black Cat, but the CD is much better than my show experience.

For some reason, they were opening, even though I'd never heard of the other two bands, Nethers and The Comas, so I missed part of the set. I've since heard of Nethers and they're from DC, which I guess is why they were the headliners.

The main reason the show was lame is that the crowd was small, maybe 20-30 people who were all pretty far from the stage, and there were about 10 girls who seemed to know the band. Unfortunately these girls were going apeshit the entire show, dancing wildly to songs that really aren't be songs you dance wildly to, and yelling "WOOO!!! I LOVE YOU [insert band member's name here]!!!" after every song. It was pretty annoying. And The Comas were pretty blah, so we left and missed Nethers.

But anyway, show aside, The Broken West the band play power pop with more emphasis on the pop than the power. They're sometimes almost saccharine with their harmonies and instrumentation, like on "So It Goes," which sounds like The La's and Fountains of Wayne. The songs are generally sunny and uptempo, with the exception of "Hale Sunrise" a great track that's a little more relaxed and bass driven, and the last few tracks on the album which blend together a bit.

"On The Bubble" is a good album starter with a bit more a 1960s vibe, but "Down in the Valley" is my favorite, a very catchy little power pop ditty that sounds like an amped up cover of some old folk song. "Brass Ring" is another piano-led power pop number with lots of "ahh-ahhhh" harmonizing and "ooh ooh ooh"s that gets close to being too saccharine but doesn't quite make it. "You Can Build an Island" sounds like it could be a Teenage Fanclub cover.

If you like power pop with a fair dose of sugar, check them out. If not, they might give you a cavity.