Detroit’s The Needmores – led by ex-The Leonards and Popular Creeps songwriter/guitarist Lenny Grassa – have released their debut EP Side x Side. It’s a whopping 9 minutes and 14 seconds or raw, melodic, upbeat powerpop-bar-rock. The hooks run deep and barely take hold before you’re into the first verse of the next tune…and that’s a GOOD thing! No frivolous extended jams or prog-rock self-indulgence here. Fans of Lenny’s past bands, and Guided by Voices, The Replacements, and early 80’s L.A. Powerpop will be all in.
The Needmores Side X Side E.P.
The guitar break in “Side X Side” splits the 60-seconds of rock on each side into a late-summer, singalong chorus that sounds great with the windows down and stereo cranked.
“Let it Ride” owns the lowest BPM on the EP and is carried along by a Jason Bowes (ex-Tucos, Culture Bandits) octave-bass line in the chorus that Bruce Foxton could have written and Jason Neckrock’s rhythm guitar complementing appropriately.
The Needmores (Clockwise from upper-left): Lenny Grassa, Jason Bowes, Eric Klisz, Jason Neckrock
“Lookin’” isn’t much faster, but has the best lyrics on the EP and harkens back to those powerpop bands of the early 80s like The Records and The Plimsouls. Somehow they managed to get through 3 verses, 2 chorus and a guitar solo before the song ends at a minute forty-one.
“Echoes” is the most “Popular Creeps” sounding of the bunch, with its minor-key chorus and Eric Klisz (Clashback, The Ruiners)/Rick Buckler tri-hits in the outro. It clocks in at an ungodly 2:59, wrapping the EP up nicely into the most economical, fun, and well-crafted and sounding collection of tunes I’ve heard in a while.
Get going on that full-length boys!
The band celebrates their record release at Bowlero Lanes & Lounge in Royal Oak, Michigan on Friday night.
Jeremy Porter lives near Detroit, fronts the rock and roll band Jeremy Porter And The Tucos, and plays acoustic shows all over the place. Follow him and them on Facebook to read his road blog about their adventures on the dive-bar circuit.
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