Kevin Bronson on June 7th, 2011

0

The list of past band affiliations for the guys in Handshakes reads like the Buzz Bands CD drawer in my old office – Controlling the Famous, Wintergreen, Sputnik Monroe. But that was then and this is now: Singer-guitarist Drew Mottinger and bandmates Patrick Doyle, Max Hellman, Todd Ramsey and Mark Balane display a deft touch for a poppier, West Coast strain of indie-rock on their debut EP “Cryptozoology” (which came out in April on Old Flame Records, home to Dead Confederate, Millionyoung and, now, L.A.’s Letting Up Despite Great Faults). Spry guitars and sprightly melodies – combined with the nicely bridled harmonies of singers Mottinger, Hallman and Balane – make for songs that’ll stick to your ribs long after the choruses have been digested.

||| Download: “Crimes”

||| Also: Filter has Handshakes’ track “Ridge” and you can stream the whole EP here.

||| Also: Futuresounds has Seven Saturdays’ remix of “Ridge.”

||| Live: Handshakes play July 8 at the Bootleg Theater, and at Filter’s Culture Collide Festival scheduled for October.

Photo by Stephen Zeigler