| CD REVIEW The Tins |
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Band : The Tins None of the information sources available to me are specific about when exactly this Buffalo (New York State, USA) based Soft Rock Pop trio consisting of keyboardist/ singer Mike Santillo, guitarist/ singer Adam Putzer (these first two having played together before in acoustic settings), and drummer Dave Muntner came about, but their debut EP (recorded in early December 2009) will see these guys added to my "Favourite Bands" list for some time to come. So, what does this band sound like then? Well, that's a tough one. They've been compared (by a reviewer at buffalorising.com) to Yo La Tengo (which I've never heard) and The Flaming Lips (of which I own an EP and album), and also (buffalonews.com) as "...more like the frantic abandonment in the Television song "Marquee Moon"..." (gót the album that's featured on, but cannot listen to it due to my stereo amp having broke down on me just recently – the album IS on vinyl, you know, and I haven't come around yet to buying myself one of those turntables you can plug into the computer to make yourself a copy for the mp3-player) "... than say, something clever and coy by Vampire Weekend..." (well, here's another unknown to me). So in all honesty, with half of the equations missing, I could hardly add my personal comments to those "ready" formulae, and I'll have to try and give my own description...which is touch enough. You see, although there's no bassplayer in this band there's still bass heard in the songs, which may of course be played by Santillo on a keyboard (so there's no need for studio fakery). There's a nice '80s Pop Rock feel to the guitar, which is focused on nice melodies rather than on over-the-top distortion play. The subtle keyboards added (warm organ sounds in a lot of the places) even make the late '70s- early '80s sound complete. On top, there's the nice binary (sorry, that's a term I "stole" from another reviewer, but it fits so well – oh well, credit given where credit's due, it's from a review at Pretty Much Amazing) co-existing vocals and the great subdued (and in-its-place) calm drum play. It all comes together to make for an instantly catchy whole, which cannot help but grab the more experienced listener by the throat with its effective simplicity. Oh well, you might as well check it out for yourself, right? Because the band posted àll of the 5 songs at myspace.com/thetinsmusic. In all, this EP may only last just under 23 minutes, but one doesn't get bored for even a second when letting it go on continuous play for a couple of hours (which is what I did). Yeah, gotta leave for town soon (some shopping to do before I head out to the editor-in-chief's place to help out with getting all of this on-line), and I guess I'll try to find the EP (or order it) at my favorite record store. Because I truly lóve this, need to have a hard copy in my possession (right now I only have the promo download copy), and am not ashamed to add this to my personal "Best Debuts of 2010"-list! 98/100 Tony. |