Album Notes

Not a pop band in the sense of contemporary pop-punk or power pop, mind you. The Midwest Beat live in a chronologically distant world where precise song structures, jangling guitars and tight vocal harmonies ruled the day. Big Star, The Byrds, The Kinks and the Zombies are their regular touchstones, bands whose own careers were at their peak a decade or more before the foursome’s members were born.

Unless audiences show up harboring a similar jones for Alex Chilton, et al. – or younger fellow travelers like the considerably messier Black Lips – it can take a few songs before the deftness of their guitar pop and restrained psychedelia becomes apparent. But once their music hits you, you’re apt to become a proselytizer for the cause.

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The Midwest Beat CD should be a welcome addition to any pop-garage fan’s collection