The Year Zero are a shoegazerish duo from the Los Angeles area. Interestingly enough, the two members have both been in bands before, and not really in shoegazer bands either. Guitarist Rodney Sellars was in a band called Sense Field, who played the Warped Tour back in 2003. Vocalist Lili de la Mora was in an act called Sidecar, who apparently played psychedelic pop music. I have never heard of either band, except on the press sheet for this EP, but i mention them here for readers who are familiar with their music.

The Year Zero is, i am guessing, led by de la Mora. This is light pop music white-washed with a healthy layer of echoing guitar and sung in a light female voice. Fans of Lush and Mean Red Spiders will no doubt enjoy this. The EP is a sampler for the band's forthcoming debut LP, and the sampler features three tunes.

The first of these is called Moonviewing Parties, and it is driven by a guitar massively tremoloed and backed by some echoey drums and light piano. The music reminds me a lot of the work of Monster Movie, while the voice here is really reminiscent of early Mean Red Spiders. It moves along nicely, and is a fine introduction to the band.

The second tune is called Some Great Majestic. There are two guitars here: an acoustic lightly strumming up front, and a back layer of droning guitar. It is a fun happy tune, and here the voice reminds me of the vocals on the Hush Collector EP.

On the final track here, Truth About Stars, The Year Zero rock out, albeit in a subtle manner. This is a very Lush-like song, with a hint of distortion on the guitars and some light echo on the voice. I especially like that Mr. Sellars sings counterpoint to Ms. de la Mora here. Their voices blend together rather well. Overall, pleasant.

For a debut EP, this is a fine release. The band makes light, slightly distorted pop music. Fans of the dream-pop genre will enjoy this. I find myself anticipating their full-length, due out this summer. The band has potential.