Weston Young bumps and thumps bass guitar strings....
while Seth Gibbs just bangs the hell out of stuff with sticks
Influences
the swish swash of the blood inside your head
+
dandy picnics in the sun with plenty of brandy
+
our lovely home of the superpop, and the ghosts inside it.
we also love and appreciate these bands:
The Beach Boys
The Velvet Underground
Pavement
Olivia Tremor Control
The Strokes
Wilco
Voted "band to watch in 2009" by the Austin Chronicle!
___________________________________________________________________________
Feature on Motionwave (Japanese blog/radio publication)
translation from Japanese:
While they mix elements of Pop, Indie Rock, and Garage Rock without borders, they manage to avoid the pitfall of clutter, and instead are able to project their own, distinct style with a unique bright poppy sound that avoids being too sweet. Influences of groups like The Apples in Stereo, Pavement, Yo La Tengo can be heard in places, but at the same time one can find a touch of groups like the Beach Boys, which makes them wonderful to listen to. With careful attention paid in every song to small details like the harmonies of the backing vocals, every song is constructed in a way that's thoroughly enjoyable over repeated listening. Their songs lack any trace of negativity or depression, and their songs have a wonderful ability to uplift the listener's spirits with their quality pop. This is one group to keep an eye on.
"If there’s two things You Ain’t No Picasso loves, it’s Austin, TX and indie pop. So when those two collide at high speeds, it’s a beautiful mess that I’ll happily spend all day scooping up. The Bubbles are just such a mess.
"I would have to say that my favorite thing about “Late Long Night” is that it takes its time. The song doesn’t explode all at once, but rather unfolds in pieces — kind of like a Galaxie 500 song if it was about half as long and twice as catchy."
Everything about local psych-pop outfit The Bubbles is adorable. From the drawings that adorn their debut full-length Super Psychedelic Sound Explosion, to the delightful ditties it contains, from those bubble wands (or is it bubble blowers) they utilize at concerts, to their bubbly vivacious performances, The Bubbles epitomize unending joy through music. The sugary pop of “Like A Rocket” kicks off the record; and the melodic hooks, the “la-la-la’s,” and the “doo-doo-doo-doo’s” grab you instantly as you realize this is going to be one of those records that has your head bobbing in unison all the way through.
Stand-out track “We’re Still Young” is an optimistic anthem despite some inherent angst in the lyrics; while “Late Long Night” seems to be chugging along nice and gently before exploding at the end with sizzling six-strings. With hand claps, tambourines, and plentiful synth accompanying the tracks constantly, the outcome is pure pop paradise with appropriate garnishes of the afore-mentioned fuzzy guitars. “Let It Go” is an introspective tune that may come across as a bit downtrodden if not for the “ooh-la-la’s” and cheery whistling in the background and “Hold Your Tongue” is quite possibly inspired by one of the band’s influences, Of Montreal. The Bubbles slow things down a tad with “Lullabye” and “Don’t Hold Me Back” but both songs incorporate the fuzz factor expertly as well. All in all, Super Psychedelic Sound Explosion is exactly that, a heavenly blast from the skies of psychedelic pop.
-The Austinist
The Austinist Review
___________________________________________________________________________
Album Review from Austin Sound:
The Bubbles’ debut album, Super Psychedelic Sound Explosion, practically oozes with the glee of a bunch of young musicians discovering how much fun rock and roll can be. Wearing their indie rock influences and hearts unabashedly on their sleeves, The Bubbles’ guitars shimmer, vocals are purposefully fuzzed out with just the right amount of distortion, and drums gallop at just the right pace to make heads and toes bop along to every song.
“Late Long Night” is a microcosm for the entire album: opening with some hand claps and William Glosup’s Jeff Tweedy meets Julian Casablancas singing, the song happily explodes behind the guitars and Power's ringing cymbals just before wrapping things up perfectly without getting self indulgent or serious. While all the obvious influences are here – Pavement, The Beach Boys, Yo La Tengo, etc – The Bubbles tunes never sound ham fisted and forced. On “Right As Rain” and “Finale” (surprise! it’s the last track of the album!), the band changes things up just a bit, ditching vocals completely except for some cascading “ohs” and “ahs” and delightfully letting Glosup and Chris Balcom show their guitar chops.
The sweetest treat on the album, a song that demands repeated listens, is the cleverly titled “Lullabye”. With a gently crooned lead vocal, a wall of backing vocals, and a perfect little riff, Glosup sounds older and wiser than his years as he asks “I wonder to myself/ is life how it seems/ do we only exist/ as a memory”. Then the bass and drums kick in the door, the guitars become circular saws tearing through the haze, and the song quickly becomes anything but a gentle lullaby save for the twinkling tambourine.
In the end, perhaps the greatest compliment that can be paid to The Bubbles with respect to their debut album is this: It’s impossible to stop grinning while listening to Super Psychedelic Sound Explosion. And that’s the whole point of rock, right?
Bubbles! Victoria from Songs Against Sex, we played together at Lambertsd and I am a big fan! I'd like to get a copy of your cd for the KOOP library if we don't already have one. My show features local bands and I'd love to play you guys! You can drop it by the station at 38 1/2th and Airport, or mail it in:
Online Now!
