Andy Browne Trio

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Hm. Usually when a band’s press kit cites a metric ton of influences, and vastly different classic and contemporary ones to boot, it raises the reviewer’s internal bullshit alarm. Seriously, you’re laying claim to The Beatles, Buster Keaton, The Clash and Coldplay all at once? And Japan? And Bowie? What, no Spice Girls? If the band wrote the pitch themselves, then it usually means “uh, we don’t actually have any idea what we sound like, maybe you can make a suggestion?” There is another possibility — what I have here is not a CD, it’s a selection of online tracks. Since the band has been putting out music for four or five years, maybe I’m just hearing their evolution, but out of chronological order? It would be interesting to find out, because mercurial-sounding as they seem to be, the band is fantastic. Really good, above par for indie rock and Andy Browne and gang could end up as my favorite new band. “Ida Lupino” features a low rasp on lead vocals, downtempo chugg-chugging drums, a soaring chorus with an electronic needle piercing a diaphanous, echoing vocal hook. The whole dramatically ambient effect screams Amused to Death era Roger Waters, a sound that continues with “Of Human Bondage.” Then comes “Virginia Please,” a rock and roll love song that sounds more like the Rolling Stones than the Rolling Stones ever do anymore, right down to a rousing Jagger-esque pronunciation of “please” (plaaay-ez!) and some extremely Keith Richards-like guitar freestyling weaving through the sing-along ending. Then there’s the smart, hook-centric “Sacred Cow” with it’s undeniable homage to all things Pink Floyd. “Los Seniorita” takes a hard left turn into a very Tool-like place. When “A Place in he Sun” comes on, I finally hear the Coldplay and Bowie cited in the press kit (plus it’s got a perfect, insistent, sexy drum groove that just kills me. Sweet). Well, The Andy Browne Trio is what it is, and what it is equals superior modern rock out of Pennsylvania. (www.lowbudgetsuperhero.com-Review date: 11.30.07, Lexi Kahn)