I know what you’re thinking: “I Googled the name, and there seems to be a ton of oldies-esque bands who’ve gone by the name The Overtones — how in heck could this one be any different?”
Well, let me get (er…) straight to the point: My first actual listen to this Overtones was a few weeks back when their drummer handed me a 7″ they’d recorded and pressed years and years ago. I knew that they were playing pretty regularly around town, but rare studio work is what Culture Of None really thrives on.
Upon the initial listen to the 45rpm, I could not resist comparing their sound to Daniel Johnston: a sort of delirious channeling of pure pop adoration into a wild-eyed rendition of Beatles and Beach Boys fandom. Drummer Joe Taylor seemed a bit perplexed by this assessment, but I assured him it was accurate.
As it were, their later (more recent) output slows down the pace a bit – losing much of the youthful mania – but adding shimmery slide guitar and spacious, unhurried ballads. They almost hint at a country-shoegaze genre that would be a delightful trend to see materialize.
You’ll see what I mean: check out their 2006 release ‘In Your Ear‘ and then go ahead and try ‘Straight To The Point‘. For a largely unknown Midwest small-town rock ensemble, their myspace page certainly seems to suggest they are “on fire” with rock & roll…
I think that’s the point.
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