pure powerpop: sweet harmonies meet loud guitars ... w/ touches mod/Britpop, garage, post-punk : CD by David Thompson of The Pills (Boston's amphetamine pop rockers)

12 MP3 Songs
POP: Power Pop, POP: Beatles-pop



Details:
Boston: 2004: After releasing three albums of "amphetamine pop" with mod/garage combo THE PILLS, guitarist & co-singer/songwriter David Thompson finds himself with a stockpile of songs that are not quite hyper enough for that group. He yearns to make a âsolo albumâ as a "side project", but detesting these terms and preferring "ROCK BAND!", he starts THE SCHEME.

And a rock band it was, with brothers Jay & Paul Natale (Den Mothers, Astroslut) on bass & drums and Dave Aaronoff (Details, Pills, Bosstones) playing the more complicated keyboard parts and the more kick-ass guitar solos. With Eric Donahue (Ad Frank & the Fast Easy Women, Quick Fix) taking over bass duties on half of the songs, this lineup recorded the 12-song CD, "SUNSET ON A DAYDREAM."

The album was produced by the fantastic Ducky Carlisle (NRBQ, Flashcubes, Bleu, Damone, Jimâs Big Ego, et al) at his Room 9 From Outer Space studio. Thompson felt that he was branching out with his more experimental songs, but Ducky set him straight, saying "Hey! This is POWERPOP! I love this shit!" And the album is indeed anchored by pure Beatlesque pop, with little detours into 60's-style garage rock ("The Sun Also Sets"), pop-punk ("Gone") â even nylon-string bossa-nova ("Year & an Inch") and your standard hypnotic, minor-key drum-loops 'n' clarinets number ("Effigy")

Beyond the power-pop âBâ troika of Beatles, Badfinger & Big Star, Thompson found inspiration from the sophisticated pop of Elvis Costello, XTC & The Beach Boys, classic punk like The Clash and The Buzzcocks, the modern art-rock of Beck & Flaming Lips, and the energy of current British bands like Kaiser Chiefs & Arctic Monkeys plus the best bands that The Pills had shared stages with: Supergrass, The Libetines, Sloan & The Figgs.

Seattle: 2006: Thompson moves to Seattle, Washington & puts out the call to form The Scheme: West Coast. When bassist/singer Gary Miller shows up with a âFiggsâ sticker on his bass guitar case, Thompson immediately says, âYouâre in!â Luckily, Miller not only shares Thompsonâs enthusiasm for that amazing NY/Boston band but turns out to be a great player and singer with a sense of humor, web design skills and a garage to rehearse in. If he owned a van, he would be the worldâs perfect bandmate. After an exhaustive (& exhausting) search for drummers, the pair lucked upon Chris Campbell, recently of the garage-rockinâ Zero Points. After a few rehearsals, they learn that he can not only bash the hell out of the drums but can sing while doing so - and soaring 3-part harmonies from the âSUNSETâ CD are being added to the energetic live sound.

The search for a lead guitarist continues (know anybody?) but somehow the band has received airplay on KEXP, favorable mention from ThreeImaginaryGirls.com and played a show (as a trio) at the Crocodile â 3 milestones of the Seattle rock scene. With the addition a fourth member, world domination seems inevitable.