Dan Clifford & The Tallboys - Inaction (CD)

Release Date: 04/09/21

Jangly indie rock from Atlanta with a clean sound and friendly feel / RIYL: Masters Of The Hemisphere, Vehicle Flips

Dan wrote me out of the blue late last year, suggesting a physical release for 'Inaction' on Jigsaw, I was pretty much instantly sold on the idea - even though he had already self-released this album digitally on his Bandcamp! I mean, his brand of catchy and jangly indie rock is one of my very favorite styles of music, after all! This is Dan's second album, following 2015's 'The Joke Being...' (also self-released), but the first one with his new full band (that would be the Tallboys), which naturally gives the songs and feel quite a bit more punch. It's funny - I was trying to think of bands that his music could be likened to, but the only contemporary band I could come up with is Eggs On Mars, a band that presented that exact same quandary when I was writing the notes for their recent album on Jigsaw. So I shall use very similar touchstones to describe this band, including Masters Of The Hemisphere, Vehicle Flips and Guppyboy. Maybe Ashtray Boy, too. Like those bands, Dan's music isn't quite indie rock in the classic (albeit incredibly vague & totally subjective) sense, due to its jangly, clean guitars and overall sound that I can best describe as friendly; but it's also a bit too edgy to be indiepop. Dan prefers to use the descriptor powerpop, but I think these songs are way more pop than power. You know what? Let's forget all that nonsense and just call it really, really good...