Myspace Rundown: The Electrolites, Pleasant, The Speakers, Mean Creek, Day Action Band, The Simples

Oh yes, another one! I've got far too many friend requests from bands I've never heard of, so it's time to weed through them and see if any get the stamp of approval.

The Electrolites are kinda good; very seventies-sounding vocals (they use a tambourine, too!). They're jangly and bouncy and pleasant, if you can take that seventies-style musical optimism. Togetherness: B. Creativity: B.

Pleasant is more usual guitar-driven rocky stuff; there's a tangled harmony in the guitars that's a little unusual (in a good way), but the vocals are doing that retro-mod sound I still need a name for. It's more posturing than I'm happy to hear. Togetherness: B+. Creativity: B-.

The Speakers come as a nice contrast--sweet and dreamy--although maybe equally hackneyed, since the two major types of indie vocals now seem to be the posturing retro-mod thing (think Editors) and the humble blurry sweet approach (think Iron & Wine). Togetherness: B+. Creativity: B-.

I kinda like Mean Creek; they combine brash instrumentals with the softer vocal style, and it works pretty well--the crashing and the sweetness go together rather nicely. Togetherness: A. Creativity: B+.

Day Action Band is immediately appealing: steady, harmonic guitar, fluid vocals, and lyrics with just enough subtlety catch your attention. Togetherness: A. Creativity: A-.

The Simples have a rather awful Myspace page, where the designer can't resist putting a very cool graphic in the background, despite the fact that it makes a good deal of the text illegible. Despite that, they're pleasant if unexceptional. Togetherness: A-. Creativity: A-.

Might change my grading criteria to Skill and Sound, since I think they're more accurate labels.

tags: [Music], [Myspace], [Music on Myspace]