Invisible Cities - Watertown

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Invisible Cities

Watertown

Contributor: Joel Edelman

This is that melodic boy-girl pop that all the kids like today. Or is it the melodic boy-girl pop that all the kids liked 15 years ago? The world may never know.

The Invisible Cities understand how to jangle on Watertown. As much as I loved Blake Babies, I always felt that Juliana Hatfield's voice forced all the instruments to play out of their comfort zone. It sounded fine, but it sounded forced. This is not an issue here.

The Invisible Cities are about as close to twee as you can get. Their style is quite lo-fi, but it never sounds cheap. It's strong enough for a man but pH-balanced for a woman.

They have a song called "Bumper Cars." I fucking love bumper cars. I think that if they are making dodgeball and kickball leagues around the country, they ought to make a bumper car league. I would be the MVP every season.

The songs are really punchy. Half of them are less than three minutes long. "Shooting Star" is one of them, and it is the one that really made me think of Blake Babies. You cannot go wrong with this song. "Everything You Started With" has Suzanne Vega-style vocals, although I must admit to not liking the guitar here. It is mixed way too high. What is it covering up?

I don't know where they get the name "The Invisible Cities" from, but I have to admit that it makes me think of Campbell. Campbell is about as invisible as a city can get. Most of the time, you think you're in San Jose, and generally, by the time you realize where you've been, you're not in Campbell anymore anyway.

I would like to hear more from this band. Good thing they are not called The Unhearable Cities. That would make me sad.

You can contact the author at: jughead@agouti.com

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Thursday, July 29, 2010