Artist description four nice boys from costa mesa california

Music Style contemporary pop/rock/noise

Musical Influences plastic ono band, VU, bowie, devo, beach boys, black sabbath, rufus wainwright, doors, depeche mode, syd barrett, pink floyd, drive like jehu, beatles, pixies, shellac

Similar Artists xtc, beach boys, the cars, yardbirds, zombies, the jam, tubeway army, the who, ozma, devo, radiohead, flaming lips, weezer, foo fighters, nirvana, shellac

Group Members michael rosas (vocals, guitar), bob thomson (bass guitar), james fletcher (drums), matthew fletcher (organ/synth)

Instruments vocals, guitar, bass guitar, organ/synth, drums

Albums maquee (1996-atlantic), masterlocks (1997-revelation), girl crushes boy (1999-headhunter/cargo)

Press Reviews Smile - Girl Crushes Boy(Headhunter/Cargo)Like the Beach Boys before them, Smile sings of the prosaic and the traumatic with the same glazed, melancholic pleasantness that characterizes the feel-goodattitude of the band's Southern California home. Every song is wrapped in perky pop, no matter how pensive and frustrated the lyrics might seem. While the group's second album, 1995's Maquee, echoed the guitar lashings of Seattle's finest, for Girl Crushes Boy it revisits the early-'80s prophylactic pop explosion that splattered Blondie, the Cars, and the Knack across the airwaves.Scraping away the grunge reveals a penchant for somber minor chords, chirpy synthesizer lines, and new wave rhythms, all pressed up against Beach Boys-like harmonies and melodic guitar work reminiscent of Foo Fighters. And like the lilting, chorused vocal effects used by Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, the vocals are stretched and smoothed with delay and harmonizer effects. (Uncoincidentally, Girl Crushes Boy was mixed by Adam Kasper, the knob-fondler responsible for select Foo Fighters and Weezer recordings.) On the opening "The Best Years," the slight, seemingly adolescent vocalist/guitarist Mike Rosas whispers a confession: "I've spent the best years of my life/ Trying to wiggle out of sight/ When someone made me nervous." Hushedtremolo guitars shimmer beneath the vocals, until drummer Scott Reeder's pummeling frenzy erupts along with a barrage of barre chords. The bridge slips into a staccato minor-chord chop lifted from the dramatic guitar/cello chorus of the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby," while multiple layers of vocal harmonies weave a bittersweet melody. "This Freaky Slow Dance" serves up squealing, bent guitar notes harmonizing with Rosas' gymnastic vocal swoon: "One more clumsy move/ And I'll have nothing left to prove/ All I want from this/ Is one more empty kiss." On "Instant Brain Damage," Rosas robotically repeats "Your love is like brain damage" atop his guitar's two-note alarm chime, until the chorus ruptures and chunky, entwined six-strings lunge and grope for the Knack's sprightly stop-and-go lurch. The title track shifts gears for a spoken rant led by Bob Thompson's mechanical fuzz-bass and Reeder's stammering drums. A choppy, screeching guitar solo collides with the rhythm section to sever the song. It's a brief respite from the album's balanced stream of grit and melodicism. Although Girl Crushes Boy is laden with catchy hooks and harmonies, Smile isn't exactly happy.

Location costa mesa, ca - USA

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