Athens, GA band Mass Solo Revolt hasn't lost sight of its predecessors — Pavement, Built to Spill — harnessing those raw sounds from the early '90s to create a less polished, yet still infectious, throwback indie rock sound. The opening chords to the band's debut CD, Easy Mark could have been pulled straight off Pavement's Slanted and Enchanted, offering the same lazy, off-kilter sound. Lead singer Martin Brummeler's idiosyncratic lyrics about "crooked teeth" and "rubber knives" add to the song's quirky feel; the track proves uniquely poppy with catchy hooks.
Mass Solo Revolt started in 2005 as the solo project of Martin Brummeler, an avid fan of early '90s post-punk. From its inception, Mass Solo Revolt was meant to be a full band, but after a few years of trying and failing to find members, Brummeler struck out on his own. "I decided to quit worrying about finding other people to form a 'real' band," Brummeler says, "and just recorded my idea of interesting pop songs that still rocked out with my 'fake' band." Easy Mark, Mass Solo Revolt's official first album, was put together by Brummeler himself, but the project has since evolved into a full fledged band.
The group tours aggressively and is working on putting together a fall sweep through the eastern half of the country. Brummeler and company are taking the summer to work on songs for a new album.
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