Thursday, July 31, 2014

Band Review: From The Sticks


From The Sticks was pretty fun listening. Their songs are catchy, and there's a sort of a stripped down pub feeling to them. The music works for socializing.

I had been through the music alone three times before I checked out the videos, and I felt like those were lacking. There are creative effects used in the videos for "DMT" and "Ocean Flaws", but they don't feel very substantial, and then wondering if the videos sold the songs short, I started thinking that maybe the songs weren't very substantial. Then a slow and quiet cover of Blink-182's "Dammit" seemed to confirm that.

I started thinking of the band as more bubblegum music, but there are two important things about that. One is that the music in no way feels manufactured or canned, which is really important. The other factor is that I hadn't been thinking that until I saw the videos, so just listening to the music does not give the same impression, even though you would probably still describe the music as light and fun. "Boom Boom" may be the vest example of that vibe.

I do think there is room for some additional heft to the music, but not everything has to be heavy. I know the word "pop" has taken on a lot of negative connotations, but if we were back in the time where it wasn't an insult, I would call this likable pop. Ska fans should probably check it out as well.





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