The Sunsets Quick - The Sunsets Quick

I admit I don't know much about the local music scene here in Boston. I tend to wander into shows at the Middle East and TT the Bear's when the openers are finishing up, if only to avoid getting in too intimate of touch with my feet in lower back, and usually I'm none too impressed by the little I hear. But here's a band to watch: The Sunsets Quick, a quartet featuring Matt Roselli on vocals and guitar (and songwriting), Chase Livingston on guitar, keyboard, and backing vocals, Ashton Jones on bass, and Liz Maynes-Aminzade on drums. They formed in the winter of 2007 and released their self-titled debut last fall (further contributions by Martin H. Gonzalez and Simon Pongratz, truly excellent cover art by Molly Butterfoss).

They play a catchy, breezy indie rock reminiscent of Weezer, Pavement, The Strokes, and Bishop Allen. Most are mid-to-up tempo numbers, but a few shouters, the contemplative "Sorry," and the more country-stylings of "Pave the Streets" round things out. Roselli moves ably from a carefully enunciated delivery to hearty bark, and he's already learned to make his falsetto crack at the opportune moment ("What You Want to Hear"). At times he's a little too eager to bite his syllables off, searching like every young frontman for his style. When he settles into his own songs and natural vocal style, he's at his best, I think (on the latter half of the couplets of "Deaf Dumb," he sounds downright Rivers Coumo-ish). Livingston adds catchy and clean fills and solos (no wankery here)--his work on "The Hook" and "Piece" especially stands out, as does the synth/keyboard behind "Straight Line". There are a number of great great intros on the record ("What You Want to Hear," "Down," "The Hook") that one wishes the band let further into the songs--usually they drop out to a sparser sound for the verses. Jones and Maynes-Aminzade keep everything nodding and the tempo-changes exact and are showcased particularly on the stop/start action of "Samsara." The best tracks here--"What You Want to Hear," "The Hook," "Straight Line," and "Piece"--are fully-formed, potential already actualized, making this a band to root for.

Give them a listen on myspace and their website and pick up the album on Itunes.

You can check them out in person this Thursday, April 9th, at the Cantab Lounge (Central Sq., Cambridge) at 9 pm. I'll be there.