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The Chinch
Bugs: Infestation
You just moved into town and you end up taking up a new friend on an invitation to a college party, one where the keg is strategically hidden in the mens bathroom. You step around the queue of awkward kids in new clothes and red cups as you make your way to your new acquaintances dorm room. You push open the door to find the room packed full of people, metronomically bouncing to the live band that sounds not unlike what one would expect if Jim Henson had produced a band with Ray Manzarek-inspired electric organ riffs, the Masters of the Hemisphere instrumentation, and melodies riddled with charming horns and cheerful reeds. The primary vocalist, Jimmy Sexton, resembles the likes of John Linnell covering Uncle Tupelo especially in Illin, Some People are Dumb, and Joking Around, although the group makes a solid effort of giving everyone in the band a chance to sing first chair. In songs like Let Me Know What You Need and Just to Annoy You, despite earnest efforts otherwise, the out-of-tune and somewhat shrill vocals sound, at times, like amateur hour at a local pub. Songs like Joking Around and Ugly Lemons stand out as gold stars among the playful pandemonium. Individuals acquainted with the former Minneapolis group, the Sandwiches, will appreciate this sonically colorful, playfully amateur, and lyrically tongue-in-cheek debut release from its four former members. The songs are varied in tempo and arrangement, although slightly less diverse in scope in terms of what one might expect. The new line-up, consisting of Lila Karash, Jenny Loupe, Jimmy Sexton and Louise Sherman, offers a release that is more heavily weighted with abrasive and confident vocal textures as opposed to the bookishly timid and pleasantly saccharine singing one might recall from the Sandwiches release, Rock on Scubatron. One thing is for sure: Infestation will keep any party hopping into the wee hours of the night.
The Chinch Bugs Official Website Check Amazon, Insound and CD Universe to purchase this album.
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