Fainting Goats Native Sounds Of The Golden West CD

For the lover of addictive hooks, perfect choruses and tight harmonies, modern times have become a desperate Mad Max scenario, with melody-parched pop fiends roaming the musical wastelands in search of that scarcest of commodities: the catchy tune. So who'd have guessed that right here in Santa Cruz, a well-kept secret of a band was bogarting a handful of gleaming alt-pop gems and flexing a likeable sense of wit to boot? The two most infectious songs on Fainting Goats Native Sounds of the Golden West CD come courtesy of drummer/vocalist David Roda, whose Lemonade and How Do You Groove It? will stick in your head until surgically removed. With a voice that lazily wafts irony into the atmosphere, Roda sometimes sounds so much like Camper Van Beethoven/Cracker frontman David Lowery that most listeners probably wouldnt bat an eye if you told them it was the same guy under a different name. The CVB similarities don't stop there, though; like the members of that band, Fainting Goats have their tongues so firmly planted in their cheeks that they might as well have them sewn in. The styles of the Goats' three songwriters are as compatible as cigarettes, sleeveless shirts and tabloid TV, though it would've been nice to hear more from guitarist/vocalist Don Roland; his two contributions, Burt's Boy and Cry On Cue, are sterling-solid, with the latter weighing in as one of the album's standout tracks. On the whole, an impressive, miles-above-average first effort. Damon Orion, GOOD TIMES 8-17-06"An indie-rock quartet with miles of pop-sensibility and the kind of playful allure you'd find at a 24 hour donut shop" — Metro Santa Cruz - 9-07 —