Charly Bliss Makes Everything Better
More refreshing than an iced latte at Dunkin on a hot day. More rocking than a chair along Lake George. More fun than peeing on a trampoline? Um, the latter might or might not be. I’m just taking a line from a killer song from our featured band today. Don’t get any idea kids. I’m just setting up the story.
Charly Bliss have been praised by just about everyone (Pitchfork, Billboard, NPR – to name a few) thanks to their first full-length album Guppy. The Brooklyn-based band have been flowered with love (is that an expression?) for their throwback ‘90s alt-pop-rock sound that evokes Weezer, or for me, Letters to Cleo. But, let’s not just compare them to great acts from the decade of Steve Urkel. They’re more than that. Their songs are infectious with biting lyrics and an extremely tight sound with power hooks. There’s not a bad song on their ten-track album, and it’s quite easy to play it repeatedly.
Late last month, a few hours before they opened for Kevin Devine at Garcia’s in Port Chester (an A-Sides-presented show if I may give myself a self high five), the band (Eva and Sam Hendricks, Spencer Fox, and Dan Shure) sat down for a chat and performed two songs stripped down in offices above the landmark Capitol Theatre. I filmed it, which I don’t usually do. Don’t hold that against me or them. Just watch it. Love it. Get the album. Roll down the windows of your car. In a world that has gone bananas, this band is bliss personified.