I've always had a weakness for super-catchy pop-punk with female vocals. Jabber - featuring Danny from The Pillowfights! and Kristia from Dead Ringer on dual lead vocals - are perhaps the next great band in this mold. They just formed in September and have already recorded an amazing EP called Too Many Babes. Of course they have songs that will be stuck in your head all day long. But they also have harmonies to die for and some of the catchiest guitar leads I've ever had the good fortune to hear. And both singers are so wonderfully likable that you just have to root for them. Isn't that what pop-punk music is all about: totally relating to someone else's ups and downs in love? Feeling their pain and sharing in their triumphs? Like some sublime mixture of Discount, the Unlovables, that dog, and Josie and the Pussycats, Jabber takes a tried-and-true musical formula and makes it feel fresh and new. And even when the lyrics tackle the anguish of longing ("Talk To You") or unrequited love ("Girlfriend"), there's such a joy and optimism to Jabber's music that it's bound to brighten your day no matter what. If a line like "I don't want to teach the world to sing/I can barely even play this thing" doesn't make you instantly fall in love with this Bay Area supergroup, you're a tougher customer than I. Yay, Jabber!
-L.R.
http://jabberpop.bandcamp.com/album/too-many-babes
http://www.facebook.com/jabberpunx
This is a fantastic EP! Like The Muffs mixed with Undertones! It might be a part of a "new discoveries" story for The Rung. Asthmatics, Satin Gum, Monrovia, The Sexual Side Effects and Blank Pages are the possible other bands on the bill. Think I'll give Jabber another round before calling it a night.
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