Reviews

Everything Lolita Bras does on stage and in their new EP Caught in the Open Too Deep is so direct and elegant, it elicits an almost embarrassing joy in the listener. A mature band that makes you want to bounce around the room, hug a stranger and hang upside down, Lolita Bras is going somewhere, and my guess is the first stop is your iPod.

There's a shortage of up-and-coming bands who know implicitely how to write and perform a good pop (or rock, or indie rock, if you prefer) song. The Cloud Room and Pela are two others that do it well. But what's also exciting about Lolita Bras is the depth that lies behind that knack for writing a good tune.

Singer Patrick Harmon has a voice that grows richer and more complex with each song. Just when you think you know what he sounds like, a particular turn of phrase or breath will reveal something new. He's one of the few singers who could legitimately site Morrisey as a touchpoint, but he doesn't overplay it. And his lyrics expertly drift back and forth between the abstract and concrete, creating a cast of characters that are at once familiar yet out of reach.

The band as a whole most certainly has it's forebears: some songs betray shades of Joy Division and The Smiths, others Big Star and Hoodoo Gurus. Yet without making a big fuss about it, Lolita Bras makes it fervently clear that they're more interested in playing their music than selling a particular sound.

Hugh Crickmore's decisive, acrobatic lead guitar work creates an airy drone that underscores Harmon's voice perfectly. Paul Frick's indefatigably driving percussion partnered with Erica D'Andrea Gray's sinewy basslines provide a counterpoint to the earnest melancholy of the lyrics and melody. And it's this specificity, the individuality of the four players that make the whole something much more than just another indie rock band with a press kit and credible influences.

"Her Own Conversation" is the stand-out on the EP, the track that every college girl would wear out if she still had a tape deck in her car. But what's especially great about this song is hearing it live. In the tradition of bands like James, Lolita Bras may never perfectly capture their live sound on album. Not because it's especially complex or showy, but because the energy of the four people on stage — the way they interact, what happened to them at work that day, where they're going after — all of that works it's way into the music, creating a specific moment that can't quite be duplicated.

And such is Lolita Bras. Much like New Jersey's The Wrens, they are a real, honest-to-goodness rock band with a heart. A band that has earned the right to have lofty aspirations.

You can listen to their new EP at MySpace