It’s 20 degrees warmer than area average at this time of year. It’s Friday. It's quite possible there are too many gooey butter cakes and cookies starting to pile up around the office. You're riding a sugar high and you've just noticed the imminent energy crash. In honor of that afternoon buzzy feeling that comes from too much caffeine and pre-weekend excitement, we present three local acts that tackle pop music through a slightly skewed and, to be utterly redundant, buzzy lens.
American Wrestlers is the brainchild of STL transplant Gary McClure. It’s dense layered pop music with an insatiable knack for melody that’s always a little distorted. American Wrestlers appeared on stage at this year's LouFest.
The Vanilla Beans has been voted best pop act in the Riverfront Times and it shares that publication’s interest in the slightly off-kilter. The back and forth vocals and simple melodies are reminiscent of old school early pop music boy-girl tracks -- only if they were recorded on an eight track with toy instruments.
The Tennis Lesson has undergone a number of stylistic shifts in past years. From 2012-2014, it was a primarily guitar-driven, lo-fi endeavor focused on crafting pop songs partially influenced by Death Cab For Cutie and Foo Fighters. In late 2014, the group seemed to let go a little bit and start releasing less traditionally structured songs with more electronic elements.
Audio Agitation is a reoccurring six-song playlist culled from recent releases or shaped by events in St. Louis's ever-changing music scene. If you're from the STL area or Missouri and you're putting out a record you think we should hear, send a heads' up to warnold@stlpublicradio.org.
