Aquarium Drunkard says:Emissaries of smart and sunny, golden coast, Pop music, L.A.‘s Tandemoro writes the kind of songs that absolutely beg for blue skies. In other words, Tandemoro are undeniably Californian in the very best sense of the word.Principle songwriters, Mike Griffin and Mike Schanzlin started the band in the late ‘90s after collaborating with one another in various (now defunct) Los Angeles groups. The two soon became fast friends, all the while developing a songwriting partnership that has, so far, produced two LP, two EPs, as well as troves of unreleased material.A tight live act, the group has since stretched out into a five piece incorporating a live DJ who adds beats, song splices, and samples to much of the Tandemoro repertoire. Bring your shit, as dance parties in front of the stage are a near given.The groups latest LP, “The Movers & The Shakers,†was the product of the two Mikes rooming together for a year in an apartment in the Valley strewn with instruments – think a micro-indie version of The Stones holed up in the south of France recording “Exile,†sans the hard drugs, millions in the bank, and groupies. Heavily influenced, at the time, by mid-period Beck, the two settled on a dance happy, kitchen sink, pop sound that pulls as much from “Midnight Vultures,†as it does the Pop craftsmanship of The Beatles and Brian Wilson.Last December, a few days before catching a flight back east for the holidays, we received a package in the mail from the Tandemoro “Mikesâ€. It contained a photo of the two sitting a bar (looking appropriately holiday-forlorn) sporting complimentary natty ’80s Christmas sweaters, and a CD that read “Merry Christmas from Mike & Mike.†You can now download the EP – plus two additional covers – for FREE, via their website
