Tops - Tin Can Alehouse, San Diego, CA - March 22, 2012


[from Montreal] I loved, loved, loved this band – they’ve got a retro sound that manages to be modern and special – ethereal poppy female vocalizing over shimmering guitars – some combo of 80s soft rock, synth pop, and disco – synth yacht rock? Bluesy French pop with psychy soft rock instrumentation? -  in same school as MGMT maybe but more pop than psychedelia –a more sincere Cansei de Ser Sexy – kind of Blondie - fairy disco: all high notes and ethereality but still rocking – they were loungey and groovy, simple and complex – I admired their ability to restrain themselves and pick the perfect notes – the kid with a fluff of hair on the front of his head played drums - the kid in the old man sweater played the flute – the kid with the sculpted afro in slouchy baggy-skinny-pants played bass – the girl in a black crop top and black mom jeans played keyboards and provided the vocals, her incessant hair flipping (she looked like F. Bueller’s girlfriend) annoyed me but she managed to seduce the audience very effectively – my favorite though was the bleach blonde kid playing electric guitar in black skinny jeans and an awful color-block jacket (amusingly, I think the yuppie older couple in the front were his parents) 

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