The Little Ones
Morning Tide
Chop Shop Records
The Little Ones, charming popsters from Los Angeles, seem to hit all the right notes with their jaunty ditties and sunny lyrics.
During the recording of this album, the band, according to their official website, adopted a rule to ensure the survival of their output, and thus the band’s own. "The rule stated that a song was deemed appropriate if, and only if, each of the Little Ones’ feet could shuffle."
Mission accomplished, apparently, because Morning Tide delivers hooks and catchy bits everywhere you turn. Particularly enticing is All Your Modern Boxes, though its meaning is unclear, and Rise & Shine, which is probably quite good for dragging yourself out of bed in the morning. Everybody’s Up To Something is another toe-tapper, and I’m reminded somewhat of The Shins. The song Waltz is indeed a waltz, and a plaintive one at that. Apart from the standard guitar-bass-drums set-up, traces of mellotron, tambourine and clavinet seep into the proceedings. Shuffle to your heart’s content.
Alexandra Patsavas, the head of the band’s label, Chop Shop Records, is well known in the television industry as a finder of songs for shows such as Gossip Girl;Chuck and Grey’s Anatomy so rest assured some of these tunes will surface sooner or later on the boob tube – if they haven’t already – no doubt adding significantly to their profile.
The Guardian newspaper in London managed to both praise and insult the band in the same breath, saying recently: "The Little Ones are capable of freakishly infectious guitar pop. Elsewhere, they sound like twee US indie kids doing karaoke versions of Magic Numbers tunes." Another UK publication, the venerable music rag NME declared them to be "a veritable Sesame Street of scintillating pop hugability." That’s more like it.
The Little Ones appear at the Earl, with The Walkmen, on Friday, October 3rd at 9:30. $12
