Team Genius – “Pop Songs” Review

Team Genius are a fun packed group from the US of A and are releasing their first EP “Pop Songs” this week.

If I were to sum the music up in a few words I’d say a musical rainbow that harks back to what made catchy 70’s rock great and dumps it firmly in the pot of gold of the new millenium indie rock movement. “Making Myths” starts off a simple song with electronic beats and organ chords that quickly layers up the thick guitars as it does the vocal layers. Add in fanfare of brass and you have a great punk pop track. More fun is “Ronald Regan’s Cousin” which has some fantastic vocal and guitar works. It’s got that explosive joyous celebratory rock anthemic feel that all the latest bands seem to be aiming for such as The Zutons and so on. “Home” is more electro-rock with a vocal style that just makes me think of David Bowie having a laugh! The closing track “Love and Love Songs” is the most low-fi of the EP with a funky pitch bending keyboard synth in the background. A nice lighter swayer to end the introduction.

An introduction is exactly how it feels as the EP showcases different variations around the same type of sound but still  whet’s your appetite for a full record after. “Pop Songs” is an interesting title because each song has all the enthusiasm of a pop song but is geared very much towards the rock side of things and thus becomes the best of both worlds.