The list of ingredients that go into making great power pop songs is simple: chiming guitars, a tough backbeat, keening harmonies and pleading lyrics about burgeoning or unrequited love. The real skill lies in finding new and fresh ways to mix those ingredients — and EZTV has this in spades. On Wednesday night (June 17), songs like the effortlessly catchy "The Light," the bittersweet "Trampoline" and the jangly "Dust in the Sky" all hinted at the shimmering sounds produced at Ardent Studios in the 1970s and classic college rock without sounding like mere revivalism.
The Brooklyn trio (augmented by guitarist Will Cole) is still smoothing out some rough edges live — bassist Shane O'Connell apologized if he and his bandmates were "shaking in their boots" to be sharing a bill with Wreckless Eric and Jessica Pratt — but the beautiful descending melody of "Calling Out" and Teenage Fanclub harmonies of opener "Hard to Believe" suggest that the group's upcoming debut LP could be one of the year's standouts.
The Brooklyn trio (augmented by guitarist Will Cole) is still smoothing out some rough edges live — bassist Shane O'Connell apologized if he and his bandmates were "shaking in their boots" to be sharing a bill with Wreckless Eric and Jessica Pratt — but the beautiful descending melody of "Calling Out" and Teenage Fanclub harmonies of opener "Hard to Believe" suggest that the group's upcoming debut LP could be one of the year's standouts.