Rock-‘n’-roll dance party starting in 1-2-3-4.
We’ve been looking forward to Televisionaries’ debut LP for quite some time, and that anticipation increased even more once we did a Gimme 5 feature with one of its members (Trevor Lake). Televisionaries (Rochester, NY) are three Lake brothers (Austin, Brendan, and Trevor) backed up by their buddy Aaron Mika on drums. Although they grew up as skateboarding punk kids, they quickly developed a taste for surf music and other early rock-‘n’-roll styles and an obsession with NRBQ, Nick Lowe & The Kinks.
Ultimately, those combined influences have lead to their debut LP Mad About You. It is an absolute blast and a time portal to the dancehalls of the ’50s and ’60s. There is a pureness to the songs on Mad About you, and at no time the old timey surfrock-‘n’-roll of Televisionaries feels inauthentic or filled with faux romanticism. Here’s a band that is not faking it, but using their talents to communicate their love for great rock-‘n’-roll and pop music.
On the dance floor, Televisionaries will challenge you to keep up with the pace of some of their songs (listen to the title track, Ultimatum and Annie), but also offer a swooner in Satisfaction Guaranteed. In between, Televisionaries aim for pop perfection, and with songs like Girls and Over And Out they succeed or, at the very least, come eerily close. Never does the record become too sappy or sugary. Instead, the band is unafraid to give their songs some welcome bite.
The Lake brothers and Aaron Mika sound in perfect harmony on Mad About You. It’s a must own and out now through Nutone Records (a division of Hi-Tide Recordings).
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