steering clear of the mainstream
since 2001

june 2010

review
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info opinion

Santa Monica Swim and Dive Club

"Mild Honey" EP

Little Pocket Records

Genre: twee, lo-fi, indie pop

Ann Arbor, MI

October 2009

Quaintness, being the twee-pop raison d'etre, is an apt way to frame this Ann Arbor band's concise EP. The work of Tim Sendra and Fred Thomas, this disc bounces along in a cheery lo-fi haze, bringing to mind names like Boyracer, Sarah Records, Happy Happy Birthday To Me, and that ilk. All things considered, this is pretty straightforward DIY indie pop - high on hooks and cutesiness, but admittedly a little bland. Consider breezy "Buried in Snow," a wintertime's yearning for California sun, crafted out of a simple guitar strum, a toy-ish keyboard buzz, and a chipper tambourine rhythm. Charming ol' fun, but not the sort of thing you file alongside your Pavement albums in terms of longevity. The band's biggest accomplishment is the mellow "I Hit the Board," a delightfully nuanced bit of pop that breaks out of its aimlessness by way of its expansive prettiness.

SMS+DC's myspace

 Not the band, but still awesome:
 

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 7 tracks, distributed by the label, released 2009]