Buddy Holly Glasses

Nobody in Melbourne's the Greasers wears Buddy Holly glasses, but if it wasn't for this press shot, I would have assumed that they would. They definitely pull most of their influences from the days of Chuck Berry, Roy Orbison and girl groups like the Ronettes. They have the bouncy guitar, glottal stop vocals, and you could also hear the "whoo-oo-oohs" and "sha-la-las" coming up.

But they're sound production is much more indie and there are hints of Pavement-esque slacker attitude that carries throughout their album Night to Night, which is available for free on their myspace.

According to their myspace, "Now that I'm a Rock N Roller, I don't ever have to write a resume again." Amen to that.

Greasers - Shelley (Likes to F**k) (mp3) (download entire album for free on their official site)

Disco Kisses

You know how you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover? It's bad form. But... I totally judge books by their covers. And I judge bands by their band names. I'm sorry, but it's a first impression kind of response. If a band has a silly name, I'll be less likely click on a link that leads to their myspace page. I think that a band should have a name that somehow conveys what they are trying to achieve with the sound.

The name Kisses just sounds like it's going to be a a girl group or a boy/girl duo. It's definitely not stuff you wanna listen to when drinking beer with the boys. And that assumption is more or less correct. Jesse Kivel (Princeton) and Zinzi Edmunson have created sad-eyed songs that have strains of 70's disco, 80's new wave and electro Europop. Sounds about right.

Kisses - Bermuda (mp3) (buy)