The Boss Martians

"Pressure in the Sodo" CD

Musick Records

Genre: power pop

Seattle, WA

Mar 12, 2009

Power pop is one of those enduring genres - a style constantly being derided as unhip, unartistic fluff, yet one that is too much of a guilty pleasure to actually fade away. The Boss Martians represent the latest flush of power-poppers, expertly matching energized guitars with exuberantly infectious vocal melodies.

Pressure in the Sodo is an impressively consistent album that's really quite memorable. Expert pop songs like "No One to No One" and "You've Taken Everything," which supplement infectious choruses with juicy garage-rock energy, hit hard and stick fast. Nary a song disappoints, although a few lack the melodic glean of Sodo's better moments - among these are bland "Crime" and, strangely, "Mars if for Martians," which features Iggy Pop but doesn't rank among this disc's more noteworthy moments. Still, there is more than enough substance within these thirteen songs to keep one coming back for more. Even slower ballad "And She's Gone," which is, admittedly, a tad mopey, wields a melody that sinks its teeth in deep. Check your pretension at the door; The Boss Martians haven't reinvented power-pop on Pressure in the Soho; instead, they've used the genre to create a record that flat out rocks.

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youuuuuuuutube!: "mars is for martians" live

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 13 tracks, distributed by the label, released 2008]