Band of the Week: Looking Glass Wars

Former band of the week singer Alex Bondarev of A Moment's Worth passed along Looking Glass Wars' MySpace page, telling me he thought I'd enjoy what I heard. He couldn't have been more right! The New York natives' most recent release, A Place in a Parlor contains tracks that touch upon the varied musical influences of the band's members, including rockabilly, surf, and alt-country, while still maintaining the dark pop-rock sound of their debut album. Do I have you intrigued yet?

"Is This Really Poison" encompasses that punk rock feel, but mid song the tempo unexpectedly changes bringing more of an anthemic, atmospheric feel to the track. Not many bands can make this work, but Looking Glass Wars succeed remarkably. In fact, all the songs featured on their MySpace page have this same result. The listener never knows what to expect and is often pleasantly surprised.

Another unique track, "3AM" starts slower than the previous. With soft and eerie vocals at first, frontman Brendan Rivera quickly crescendos into a scream amidst fitting heavy percussion and bass accompaniment. Eventually the song fades out with soft piano and bell features. While the listener assumes this is the song's eminent end, he is fooled once again as the music picks up, enticing the listener to pay more attention.

While "Oh What A Party It Will Be" is self explanatory with it's title, "Addicted To Your Touch" follows suit with high energy and solid electric guitar riffs. Heavy bass and percussion beats make up the backbone of the track, never faltering.

Having garnered a spot on AbsolutePunk.net's 2008 "Absolute 100," Looking Glass Wars show no sign of slowing down. For their music and tour dates, be sure to check the band out on MySpace. What do you think?

Recommended: For fans of The Killers, Panic at the Disco, The Gaslight Anthem, early Yellowcard.

Photo Credit: Joel Sneak