Hey young rock and rollers, are you looking for cool summer jams to lower your core temperature from the blood boiling heat?
Look no further. Seattle’s own TOMTEN are the musical equivalent of catching snowflakes on your tongue. If they were a delicious summertime ice cream confection, they would be one scoop Fats Waller and one scoop The Zombies drizzled with the Flaming Lips and perhaps a little Beach Boys (in the harmonic sense) sprinkled on top.
If that doesn’t make you run screaming after their proverbial truck, then perhaps the fact that they use the organ extensively and cite Curtis Mayfield and Tiny Tim (WHO DOES THAT?) as influences of theirs might entice you further. They are a magnificent pastiche of everything that makes 60s-era pop so delightful and so memorable and brings an indie-pop sensibility to it, without completely destroying the intended effect by becoming too precious or distorting it into something unrecognizable. It’s bike riding, daisy chain making, lemonade in the shade sipping summer perfection.
Does this sound like an Otter Pop to your ears? (Perhaps Sir Isaac Lime, or Louie Bloo Raspberry?) If so, you have two chances to hear them this weekend! They will be playing at Mars Bar on 7/10 at 8:00PM with Gashcat and at The Skylark Cafe in West Seattle on 7/11 at 7:00PM with Night Owl and Abraham. Go forth. Check them out. Fall in love.