Thursday: You notice this review on Pitchfork for a new album by The Broken West called I Can't Go On, I'll Go On. It's kind of a so-so review (6.7/10), but the first sentence grabs you: "Power pop is easy to do, but difficult to do well." A power pop band! Sounds promising. You scan the review for the other bands mentioned: Big Star, Cheap Trick, Matthew Sweet. Worth checking out. You notice that it's on Merge, and figure it's probably on emusic so you click on Pitchfork's download from emusic link.
The first sample you check out is "So It Goes", wondering if it's a Nick Lowe cover, but it isn't. You sample a few more songs, but there seems to be a whole lot of not much going on in them. You click on an album comment that takes you to this review on The Fire Note and notice the first sentence "The Broken West represents everything that is right about quality music." You sigh and go on to other things, noticing that the Broken West album is reviewed in the latest SF Weekly. Someone must want you to discover this band. This review tells you to give them another chance.
5 parts Big Star, 3 parts Byrds, and a pinch of Groovies. If it was stirred with a scuffed Rickenbacker you'd be sold, and even an unscuffed one merits further exploration. Off to AMG. Their Broken West review also mentions the Byrds and Big Star as influences. How does every review namecheck the same bands? They list three track picks: "So It Goes","On The Bubble", and "Hale Sunrise"). Back to emusic for more sampling.The band's sound is a retro confection cooked with five parts Big Star, three parts Byrds, and a pinch of Flamin' Groovies, stirred with an unscuffed Rickenbacker..
You've already heard "So It Goes", so you try "On The Bubble". Is that a keyboard? This song couldn't sound any less like Big Star if it tried! Your last chance to click is "Hale Sunrise". The singer sounds like the guy from the Thrills trying to sound like Jeff Tweedy. More keyboards. Not a jangling Rickenbacker to be heard. You're just about ready to give up.
Friday: The next day you notice this Broken West writeup at Idolator. It mentions Wilco, but also "effervescent Spectorisms with handclaps and sunny falsettos". One of the comments says of the Broken West
You're so jazzed to see Game Theory namechecked in a cool indie-rock blog that you don't eve wonder what a "Braff-friendly" GT would be. And how have you lived in the Bay Area and loved Big Star for nineteen years without even knowing there was a "thing" associated with those two traits?These guys sure nail that Bay Area Big-Star-Loving Pop thing. Kind of like a Braff-friendly Game Theory.
Luckily there are full-length mp3s so you can listen and make up your own mind.. Maybe one of the other songs is the one that sounds like the Byrds and Big Star. Or even better, a Braff-friendly Game Theory!
The Broken West:
On The Bubble (mp3)
Brass Ring (mp3)
2 comments:
I just heard these - finally got 'round to that part of this CD-R disc in my car - and I was trying to remember what you'd written about them. I knew you'd quoted a bunch of reviews comparing them to a bunch of bands, so I was trying to figure out which bands they might have been. Couldn't think of anyone in particular - but...Big Star? You're right - not even close. (They're not bad, actually.)
I actually like the Broken West, but the songs are kind of a slow burn. The songs are laid-back countryish like the Tyde or Beachwood Sparks, but completely unlike Big Star or Game Theory
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