One of the supreme difficulties of being a record reviewer is having seen these waves roll in before in sets. It’s far from the first time you’ve surveyed these waves, seen the gales, know how it’ll break, where the kooks’ll cluster. You’re not as in a hurry to suit up and run into the ocean when the yellow flag with the black dot in the middle is flappin’. So, in attempts to not become Ye Olde Jaded Fucke, I took my New Beach Alliance time with Amoebas. I took my paperback out, sat on the sand, took naps, got an unexpected sunburn with crisp lines as the Amoebas played over the public announcement speaker. All this metaphor is to say that there’s a definite line in the sand between bands worth listening to and bands that are just, “Blah, whatever.” The Amoebas are a Michigan band that enjoys the Stitches and the Carbonas in equal measure. It took a few spins to figure, “Yep. They know how to structure a song and how to ride a wave, instead of sneer and expect people to clap at their limited abilities and obscure vinyl collection.” Good stuff.
–todd (Modern Action / Gimme)