Lame Drivers - Chosen Era (CD)

Release Date: 10/09/15

Short, punchy songs with nods to '70s powerpop and '60s psych pop / RIYL: Guided By Voices, early XTC

This band has been around for quite a while, hailing from New Jersey, then Providence and now New York City, and though they have many assorted releases under their belt (some homemade cds, a few cassettes and a really cool flexi-book!) this is actually their proper debut album. Their sound is hard to pin down, but the easiest/laziest comparison is Guided By Voices, with an emphasis on short, punchy songs. But there's so much more to them than that; listen for nods to early(ish) XTC, the Buzzcocks, '60s psych pop and some straight-up 'Yellow Pills'-styled powerpop - it's all in there. Released on lp by Bleeding Gold Records, this cd version contains three bonus tracks - one exclusive track and a couple from past releases - which add a nice coda to an already solid album.