Tenspoke Indies
Blinded By The Light (Decadent Suite Records)
I don't like this band. For starters, their press release says that, like Jimmy Eat World (although they don't sound like Jimmy Eat World, the press release also asserts), they create music that appeals to mainstream audiences and does not alienate fans This is a very astute analysis, because Jimmy Eat World does indeed create that kind of gap-bridging music. Does Tenspoke Indies?
Not quite in the same way. Tenspoke Indies is kind of a paradox in a way, because they pull from many different influences, obviously, but still manage somehow to sound rather generic. I don't know what to say about this band, other than the fact that I don't like them. They do have nice haircuts, though, and seem to have the rockstar attitude and image down pat, so their shows are probably wildly entertaining. But I mean, seriously, they have a song called "Need You Now" that really featured what sounds like cowbells in its intro. They seem to take cliche after cliche and incorporate them willingly into their music.
On a positive note, the album title and artwork are pretty genius. These guys are the sound raining down from the heavens that makes people cower in the street like Godzilla. Are they cowering from the lack of quality in the music? QUITE LIKELY.
Art: Michael Moppin at
artboyproducts.com and Rick Gadd
comment on this album's artwork
This reviewer, in the famous words of the immortal Frank Zappa, "wouldn't know good music if it hit 'em in the ass."
The Indies, well, if the Stones got really good all of a sudden (as if) they'd be the Tenspoke Indies.