Ears Wide Open: The New Limb

Kevin Bronson on May 11th, 2010

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Costa Mesa quartet the New Limb carted home the Best Indie Artist trophy at the 2010 Orange County Music Awards, but as one of the songs on their debut album points out, “I Know You Know” that gold medals are basically awarded by the ears of you, the listener. So here are the New Limb’s credentials: Only 2 years old, the foursome crunches hooky indie-pop into intricate arrangements with boy-girl vocals, strings and some tender piano work. The range on their debut “Sounds People Can Hear,” recorded with Tom Mgrdichian (veteran studio guy who, among other credits, was writer/arranger for flicks such as “The Wedding Singer” and “50 First Dates”), make them a bit hard to pigeonhole, but if you need a bit of the familiar to pique your interest, they cover New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle” and turn it into a mini-medley with Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time.” Not bad, and it’s a good bet some of their original material will find your pop sweet spot too.

||| Stream: “Birds and Stuff” and “Sarah”