Nodzzz - Innings

The type of record that could only be made by bespectacled Americans wearing checked shirts and blind if not for very thick horn rimmed glasses. Nodzzz find themselves on the end of the lineage that goes something like Jonathan Richman, Beat Happening, K records et al, Moldy Peaches. Its chirpy, strummy indie rock that manages to be very economical on the chord content. It says here that they have a bass player but I can't hear one, its all strummy guitars, swashbuckling drums and nasal vocals. Their songs are never more than 2 minutes long and so pass by in an energetic blur. At their best they recall the type of bands that took the Richman aesthetic and ran with it such as Crabstick; 'Troubled Times' most obviously recalls Australia's finest jovial strum poppers. The ghost of They Might Be Giants is never very far away in the vocals but they'll have to increase the sophistication of the songwriting to get anywhere near the two Johns. I don't think though that this is the intention, its more to create charming, simple, singalong pop free of pretension and full of fun.