New Music From: The Young Playthings

The Young Playthings formed a couple of years ago, bringing together musicians from the London and Oxford scenes, and play a sort of high-powered U.S. college rock style pop music reminiscent of bands such as Fountains Of Wayne and yet also bringing into the mix some different ingredients. Their debut album, Who Invented Love? came out this month on London's uber-ace Smalltown America label, and features flashes of 50s doo-wop (possibly linked to the band's friendship with Brighton's Pipettes), some developed Modest Mouse style indie rock epics, some Ash-a-like powerpop rock and lots of other good gubbins. Now all of these styles can of course be horrendous, but luckily the band can write well enough not to fall into any obvious traps. Overall they sort of sound like a British equivalent of the Apples In Stereo; definitely retro in style and yet good enough not to be dismissed as a novelty. Here's a couple of songs!

The Young Playthings - She's A Rebel
The Young Playthings - So Good, So Bad... So Good!