Waxwings

It’s refreshing to hear a band from Detroit these days who aren’t being compared to the MC5. The Waxwings deliver excellent ballads and classic power pop with a modern tinge. The beautifully played and sung "Of Late” has a Pretty Things’ SF Sorrow/Parachute period feel, but for the most part don’t believe the Pretty Things and Kinks-influenced hype. Late ’80s Manchester groups were influenced by late ’60s British groups — it seems the Waxwings accessed their ’60s through this Manchester sound. At the same time they have a sound all their own, which is relevant modern rock’n’roll so the rampant comparisons to ’60s British influence are probably unnecessary. A second gem and great rockin’ pop number is "Steady as Starlight,” demonstrating a youthful vitality to the band that promises to develop material that could stand the test of time. Cheers to a band that’s displaying various influences of a rich genre and really shaking it up, when many other groups around them are playing three-chord garage. And cheers to Rainbow Quartz for continuing to sign these bands and this sound. Now if only RQ would start releasing these great groups on vinyl.