If you happen to be a music nerd like me and scour the internet for hours upon hours looking for buzzed about new artists and bands, then more than likely you've heard of the Minneapolis Indie-Rock group Tapes ‘n Tapes. Tapes are destined to become this year's Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, seemingly following the same formula that band followed last year: release your own album, get it into as many hands as possible, make it available for thousands to download, those thousands start up the hype machine, then wait for respectable Indie label (this time it happens to be XL) to offer you a deal because of said hype to make said album more readily available.

Tapes have been endlessly compared to Pavement and The Pixies and I really don't see either of these comparisons to be completely honest. This band can play sloppily at times like Pavement, true, but repeated listens to The Loon proves the band is far more tightly structured than people are giving them credit for. The only reason I think people are quick with The Pixies comparisons is that vocalist Josh Grier does sound a lot like Frank Black. Musically however, I find that The Loon has far in common with Black's solo work than that of his more famous band. I think the one obvious comparison that people are truly missing that I haven't heard anywhere is Spoon. Just listen to those guitar licks man! These guys come from the Britt Daniel school of rocking (it's somewhere in Europe). I also hear more obscure era Violent Femmes and Calexico than Pixies and Pavement too, but hey, that's just me. I'll drop the comparisons game for a second though to quickly say that for a band of youngsters just releasing their debut, they sound like a bunch of veterans that have been at this a while. The Loon is top notch Indie-Rock with vocals that are quite engaging and a musical template that's far from predictable. If you appreciate any of the bands that were listed above, Tapes ‘n Tapes will certainly be up your alley.