(99 cents per song)
Inner Beauty Contest is from Long Beach, California, USA. They play rock music instrumentally comprised of the standard elements of electric guitar, bass, and drums, supplemented by synths, some wind instruments, and just enough drum machine beats to make things interesting without ripping off the Postal Service.
Their influences include current indie bands like The Mars Volta, Death Cab for Cutie and Pinback, and past artists like XTC, Yes, Nick Drake, and Fleetwood Mac. Their sound has rich vocal harmonies over complex beats, rhythms, and riffs, reminscent of Cursive, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Q and not U, and even the prog flavors of Coheed and Cambria without the over-production and thin guitars.
Their songs tell stories of society and personal experience, make analyses and conclusions, lamenting the superficiality of our culture while maintaining a good dose of optimism and solutions. The goal is to make some clear statements about decisions and consequences without preaching at the listener.
They craft their songs carefully, paying close attention to lyrics, melody, harmony, structure, dynamics, and energy, aiming to make songs that are both listenable and intricate, embracing variety and shunning clichés.