Dating back to
Buddy Holly & the Crickets, the sound of a guitar-driven pop/rock band has been a constant in the rock era, and
Stepsonday stand right in the center of the tradition; whether they could be described as recalling
Holly, or the early
Beatles, or
the Raspberries, or
the Romantics, or
Death Cab for Cutie, or someone else may depend on the age of the listener. To some, these musicians may even sound like they're inventing the buoyant, chiming style themselves. But the two sibling members of
Stepsonday (Jason Ford Turner on vocals, guitar, and bass, plus Chad Ray Turner on drums and vocals) certainly know where they are borrowing some of these guitar chords from. Indeed, it wouldn't be surprising to find out they used to be a
Beatles tribute band. The music is in the service of Jason Ford Turner's earnest vocals singing songs of emotional support and romantic advice with a youthful tenor. "Do I have to grow up right now?," the singer asks in "Boy and His Balloon," "I can't help but think it's too soon." And that's appropriate, since one of the reasons this kind of pop/rock never goes away is that it has an eternally young feeling. ~ William Ruhlmann