EMI

Marjorie Fair played an enjoyable set when i saw them open for The Dears and The Shout Out Louds last year. I picked up this single by them a little while later, and my goodness do they make a catchy tune.

The disc starts with its title track, Waves. This is a sunny, happy pop song that is catchy in a very radio friendly sort of way. The singing sounds really nice, and i like the way that the other band members harmonize just briefly, on the words "silly boy" during the chorus. This is toe-tapping, bounce your head along with it, good stuff.

But there's more to the band that just a pop tune. The middle song here is called What I Said, and it's an odd 2 minute interlude of echoed voice and strummed acoustic guitar backed with chiming guitar and light, jazzy drumming. It's a fun song, but much more minimal than the previous tune. Here, i like the way that the lead guitar plays the same notes that the vocalist is singing on the chorus. That's a really cool effect.

Finally, Marjorie Fair wrap things up with True Lovers. Drum machine and organ start this one out, and the voice is light and backed by acoustic strumming. The singer of the band, Evan Slamka, actually has a really good voice and knows how to sing. (This is unusual in the world of indie rock.) As True Lovers moseys along, eventually the lead guitar comes in, all fuzzed out and distorted, grinding away lightly over the melody. This is a light, pretty tune, and a nice end to the EP.

Overall, i am impressed. I liked what Marjorie Fair did in concert, and this single reaffirms my fondness for them. If you like pop music, then this is a band to look out for.

One side note: Marjorie Fair record for EMI, and when you stick this CD into the CD player of your laptop, the autoplay function starts installing some software. That's just plain rude, and in this era of lawsuits and RIAA, i think that EMI was trying to install their spyware on my machine. They actually displayed a message that said, "In order to listen to the music on this CD, a number of files on your computer need to be updated". I chose to disbelieve them, cancelled out of their installation, and manually opened Windows Media Player, and i could hear things just fine. So: be warned.