The A-Sides make you feel like you’re six-years-old at your best friend’s birthday party only instead of a killer magician, Tang and goodie bags, there’s a rockin’ band, beer and balloons. Balloons!!
The A-Sides took the Don Hill’s stage at their first NYC appearance, all smiles amongst a swarm of multicolored pearlescent balloons. Considering the Philadelphia four-piece have been making music together for three years now, I can’t help wondering why they have withheld themselves from us for so long. Is NYC so terrible? If there’s one thing this city needs more of it’s bands that have the foresight and childlike charm to wear pink striped shirts, as singer Barthmus did, and bring their own balloons to the rock party.
The band proceeded to kick out a number of jams from their latest album Hello Hello. Their sound is an upbeat mix of ’60s vocal harmonies and modern indie rock. They are a band whose tracks would fit the A-Side of a mix tape perfectly in the company of The Shins, The Beach Boys and The Zombies, yet they maintain their own spin and distinct style. The A-Sides performed each song equally energetically, bouncing around the stage wide-eyed and enthusiastic. Although the upbeat, clean cut aesthetic of this band makes it seem unfitting to cuss, I have to say these guys are unjaded as fuck and although their music is really quite great, it’s this type of stage presence that makes a show go from good to great. At the end of the set, it was clear that much of the crowd had come specifically to see them, and were now leaving to either go home or to keep on rocking at the British Sea Power show. If you’re looking for the opposite of a downer, the A-Sides are just what you need.
Source: Cara Heller
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