as fast as

my latest obsession is a band from portland, maine, going by the name “as fast as“.

it’s hard to pin down exactly what the band sounds like. for some reason, people have been comparing them to weezer, when they’re really all over the map. I guess it’s human nature to find something familiar in the unfamiliar, though, so I’ve included a couple of tracks for you to listen for yourself and see what you think.

02 :: florida sunshine

“florida sunshine” has been getting a fair amount of play on cd101, but because the song, though catchy, is also post-jet generic, the average person on the street probably couldn’t tell you who it was they were listening to. in fact, it starts out a lot like “alcohol” by barenaked ladies. my guess is the record label wanted this as the lead-in single to get people interested. kind of ironic, since it already sounds like everything else.

04 :: gretchen, my captain

this is the song that really hooked me. I think it’s because it sounds so much like something guster would do, only they’d probably replace most of the guitars with bongos.

07 :: open letter to the damned

for some reason, this song reminds me of cracker. that’s not a bad thing.

09 :: if I only knew

this one’s totally begging to be placed in a sandra bullock movie. if I had to equate the song to something, I’d say it was like a more raw version of maroon 5 with a tiny sliver of scissor sisters thrown in. not slickly produced like maroon 5, and a lot less electronic than scissor sisters.