Download: The Champagne Socialists
“Blue Genes”

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(from “Blue Genes” 7″ available now from Slumberland Records)

The new Champagne Socialists “Blue Genes” 7” is only two songs, but the band maximizes their six minutes of bouncy, punk-infused ’60s pop. It’s just sugary enough, and the lazy-slash-sunny California tinge eliminates any pretension that tends to bog down a lot of Spector wannabes these days. The simplicity is deceiving too, in that the tone of the mics and the amps really acts as another member of the band. A-side “Blue Genes”—a stomper with a funky bassline—is the happier track of the two and should be included on any of your fall dance mixtapes. The teenage love-lust of the B-side, “The Young Runaways,” is a typical subject, but it still manages to paint a neat picture of misunderstood youth in a time long passed. Slumberland has found a sharp little band with these guys. I’ll be excited to hear a full-length when it’s time.

—James T. Cartwright