The name Auto Interiors sounds like the title to a late '80s Rush album or a Gary Numan cover band. But no, it is the moniker of an arresting power-pop quartet operating out of Cambridge, Mass. After being contacted by a friendly Rykodisc rep about the nearly decade-old band and checking them out, we were easily sold by its hooky compositions. Still, it took a while to quantify what we enjoy about the band. Part of it is obvious: the vocals of Eric Waxwood and the chunky guitars are aurally similar to those of another important Boston act -- Buffalo Tom (incidentally, Stereogum has information about the forthcoming Buffalo Tom set and an MP3 here). But there is another element pervading Auto Interior's hummable tunes, and after some consideration we think we can name it: it is a detached, vaudeville tunefulness (check out "Small Death") of the sort prominent in the songwriting of Franklin Bruno, he best known for his work in Nothing Painted Blue. Based on the band's MySpace dojo, we think Auto Interiors would argue its compositions are more Beatles and Kinks homage (check those "ahhhhhs" on "I Suppose," which is available for download at the band's MySpace hizzy) than Tin Pan Alley-tinged. Either way, we're talking about eminently listenable music -- we're just embarrassed someone had to point out something to us that has been right under our proverbial noses as long as we've lived in Boston. Let's Agree To Deceive Our Best Friends, the band's sophomore set, is packed tightly with catchy tunes, 11 in a mere 34 minutes, so make sure to hit the repeat button on your IPod as it blows by all too quickly. The band will be performing live on Boston radio station WBCN Sunday May 6 at 10PM, for those of you who still quaintly adhere to terrestrial radio. To catch AI live any time soon, your best best is a gig at Piano's in Manhattan May 10. Auto Interiors' Let's Agree... was released by Rykodisc March 13. The set ends big with the uncharacteristically dark and dense strummer "Green Arrow," a bracing psych-rock amalgamation that sounds like equal parts Yo La Tengo and The Cult, which we're posting for a limited time below.
Auto Interiors --
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[buy Auto Interiors music from Newbury Comics here and Rykodisc here]
Auto Interiors: InterWeb | MySpace |
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