Monday, June 8, 2009

Reviews:: Zeus Sounds Like Zeus EP

Carlin Nicholson and Mike O’Brien have a long musical history together. While playing in The Golden Dogs and as part of Jason Collett’s touring band, they fine tuned their easy-going pop sounds and (hopefully) have finally stumbled on the recipe that will get them the attention they deserve.

I mean, we loved the Golden Dogs record (review) and I was a big fan of Carlin’s other outfit (The 6ixty Eights - review), but both bands struggled to get a solid foothold in the music scene, despite the strength of the songs. Zeus on the other hand seems to be coming along at just the right time. Their classic pop sounds – just listen to the harmonies on I Know or the sun kissed shimmer they give to How Does it Feel? - are perfect to jump start your summer, but I have a feeling this band is going to be more than just a summer crush.

The band delivers crisp pop songs, most hovering around the 3-minute mark and all chocked full of melody and sing-along choruses. If you can't sink into the banged out piano and bass line they use on How Does It Feel or the AM radio ready vibe they conjure up on I Know, you are a joyless individual. Zeus sidesteps the hokey kaleidoscopes that most people trying to venture back to the 60's and 70's end up looking through, and focuses on finding infectious nuggets for us all to mine.

Signing to Arts & Crafts is obviously going to help out this quartet (Rob Drake and Neil Quin) get noticed, but the tightness they display thanks to years of playing together is just as important. They can tackle these nostalgic pop soundscapes without sounding derivative and even throw in a scorching Genesis cover (That’s All) that I guarantee will blow the roof off any bar they play. Basically, for $3.99, you can get 5 songs, but more importantly, you can discover a new band that might just become one of your favorites.

Don't believe me? Well, A&C is giving away two songs from the EP (and upcoming full length entitled Something Awesome). Here's one of them.








MP3:: Zeus - How Does it Feel?
MYSPACE:: http://www.myspace.com/themusicofzeus

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Posted at 8:10 AM by ack :: 3 comments

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At 10:49 PM, Blogger Jim did sayeth:

I effin' love ZEUS!! I talked about them last September, and have them on my schedule for later this week. Soooooo looking forward to this album. I'll be sure to link to your review.

 

At 10:34 AM, Blogger popguru did sayeth:

I love Zeus too and their album is sure to be a 2009 highlight. However, don't be so quick to write off the Golden Dogs. They are currently finishing up their 3rd album and it's going to be great. You'll find a lot of the same faces on both the Zeus and Golden Dogs albums. They are friends and contibuted to each other's albums.

 

At 10:35 AM, Blogger popguru did sayeth:

I love Zeus too and their album is sure to be a 2009 highlight. However, don't be so quick to write off the Golden Dogs. They are currently finishing up their 3rd album and it's going to be great. You'll find a lot of the same faces on both the Zeus and Golden Dogs albums. They are friends and contibuted to each other's albums.

 

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