PowWows Nightmare Soda
The PowWows' self-produced first LP, Nightmare Soda, has been picked up by Pittsburgh's Get Hip Records and was released on vinyl in August of 2011.
With a sound that blends the "hippie rock" of the 1960's and 70's with the lo-fi chaos celebrated by their own contemporaries such as TV on the Radio and 100 Monkeys, Toronto-based PowWows have hit on something. However, what that "something" is, I have yet to determine. A couple tracks grabbed my attention instantly - the rockabilly country-punk Four Star and another for which I have not yet zeroed in on the proper adjectives, Séance.
But with several plays backing my opinion of Nightmare Soda, I am still circling the airport, trying my best to avoid landing on words like "forgettable" or "background" to describe it on the whole. Even without distractions, keeping it in the foreground, making it the primary stimulation, I still find myself forgetting the last song as the next one begins.
The album opens with the sound of classic cars, pulling into the lot at the local hangout on a Saturday night, which fits well with the 1960's concert video opening, "Hello, E-96", leading into EIO (During the Flood) which continues along the same classic-car-antiDooWop-rock vein, as does Do the Splash, channeling a bit of the Kinks' melodic punk sound as well.
On the other hand, Séance, the third track on this album, could be yet another of Jack White's side projects leaning more to the Raconteurs side than the White Stripes side, if only for the lo-fi racket.
Four Star offers a clear implication that the band has at some point been influenced by the rockabilly genre, possibly even before it had a name. I am instantly taken to the Rolling Stones' Honky Tonk Woman but at the same time get tastes of Creedence Clearwater Revival and Social Distortion. Possibly my favorite track on the album; definitely the one that most easily catches my attention. It is this sound, this track, that really feels like something the PowWows could, perhaps should, focus on and develop. This track, to me, feels like the most solid, the most coherent, the most comfortable.
All in all, the Pow Wows will be retired to the library, coming up only in shuffle. I cannot say this freshman attempt has earned me a place in the fandom but it may not get skipped on the rotation. I believe, however, of the artists in my library, should I get a craving for lo-fi chaos and noise, my first instinct will still be to dig out the Raconteurs, 100 Monkeys or TV on the Radio.
With a sound that blends the "hippie rock" of the 1960's and 70's with the lo-fi chaos celebrated by their own contemporaries such as TV on the Radio and 100 Monkeys, Toronto-based PowWows have hit on something. However, what that "something" is, I have yet to determine. A couple tracks grabbed my attention instantly - the rockabilly country-punk Four Star and another for which I have not yet zeroed in on the proper adjectives, Séance.
But with several plays backing my opinion of Nightmare Soda, I am still circling the airport, trying my best to avoid landing on words like "forgettable" or "background" to describe it on the whole. Even without distractions, keeping it in the foreground, making it the primary stimulation, I still find myself forgetting the last song as the next one begins.
The album opens with the sound of classic cars, pulling into the lot at the local hangout on a Saturday night, which fits well with the 1960's concert video opening, "Hello, E-96", leading into EIO (During the Flood) which continues along the same classic-car-antiDooWop-rock vein, as does Do the Splash, channeling a bit of the Kinks' melodic punk sound as well.
On the other hand, Séance, the third track on this album, could be yet another of Jack White's side projects leaning more to the Raconteurs side than the White Stripes side, if only for the lo-fi racket.
Four Star offers a clear implication that the band has at some point been influenced by the rockabilly genre, possibly even before it had a name. I am instantly taken to the Rolling Stones' Honky Tonk Woman but at the same time get tastes of Creedence Clearwater Revival and Social Distortion. Possibly my favorite track on the album; definitely the one that most easily catches my attention. It is this sound, this track, that really feels like something the PowWows could, perhaps should, focus on and develop. This track, to me, feels like the most solid, the most coherent, the most comfortable.
All in all, the Pow Wows will be retired to the library, coming up only in shuffle. I cannot say this freshman attempt has earned me a place in the fandom but it may not get skipped on the rotation. I believe, however, of the artists in my library, should I get a craving for lo-fi chaos and noise, my first instinct will still be to dig out the Raconteurs, 100 Monkeys or TV on the Radio.
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION:
The Contributor has no connection to nor was paid by the brand or product described in this content.
The Contributor has no connection to nor was paid by the brand or product described in this content.
Published by D. Gabrielle Jensen
Audiophile, writer, friend, reader, sorority chick, card-carrying geek View profile
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