If you want to know where the three members of I Before E (Chattanooga, Tennessee) draw their influence from, draw a straight line to ’90s pop punk and punk rock. The human beings in the band weren’t even born back then (I think), making it all the more impressive how much they nail that sound, although I must add the notable ’90s college rock and alt pop influences as well.
My favorite part of I Before E is that they kinda sound like the demo version of some of the succesful bands of the ’90s alt scene, not unlike a mixture of Green Day, Lemonheads, and Big Drill Car. They sound scrappy and underproduced, with their special talent for melody and harmony clearly shining through.
The four-song Criminal Record is out now on Puppy Love Records. It’s hard to ignore the thought that had it been released three decades ago, record labels would be lining up to sign I Before E.
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