After his band
Bare Wires basically imploded on-stage at SXSW in 2012,
Matthew Melton didn't waste much time before he was up and running again, this time fronting
Warm Soda. Apart from the name, almost everything has stayed the same. The lineup is still classic guitar-bass-drums, the recording style is still best described as tinny, and like before, there's enough rock & roll energy flowing through
Melton's hooky songs to power a small city. What's different on the band's debut record,
Someone for You, is that instead of drawing from garage rock and punk and
T. Rex, the sound this time is pure stripped-down power pop. Still punky, still full of wiry energy, and more like
the Boys or the early
Saints than a skinny tie-wearing, matching hairstyle kind of band, but still poppy enough to be on a Come Out and Play compilation. (And better than almost anything you'd find on a Yellow Pills comp.) Tracks like "Jeanie Loves Pop" and "Waiting for Your Call" would have been highlights on any power pop comp, the strutting "Sour Grapes" would be a timeless classic if it had come out on Stiff in 1978, and the rest is punchy enough to have even the strictest power pop purist agreeing that these guys are the real deal. No one could deny that
Melton's skill at crafting melodies, the group's (bassist Chase Oren, guitarist Rob Good, and drummer Ian McBrayer) tough and tender delivery, and the crackling AM radio sound of the production are all top-notch power pop. Best of all, they don't spend any time trying to re-create a sound or worrying about the conventions of the style; they just plug in and rock out with a perfect mixture of punk, power, and pop from beginning to end on this very impressive debut. ~ Tim Sendra