Baxter HouseThis band came to me the way most bands do-- someone took the EP and repeatedly bounced it off my skull until I could no longer avoid listening to it. For those of you taking notes, yes, that is the way to properly market your band.
Baxter House is an unsigned trio from the Echo Park area of Los Angeles, California. Rachel, Sky and Malik make music that is a raw blend of the earliest punk seasoned with about 25 years of everything else. Think of the grit of early Pretenders and X with a hint of B-52s or Devo transposed into the modern L.A. club band. I certainly wouldn’t try to call them pop, yet the subtle influences in songs like "No Food" and "Fat Gross Cowboy" are obvious. If you check out Baxter House’s myspace.com page you’ll get a taste of what I’m talking about.
The production suffers a bit without the input of a bass player, but who said there were rules to making punk rock? Maybe I’m just a whiny ex-bass player who sees opportunity.... But I digress.
I think I’m safe in saying that, being a young band, Baxter House hasn’t completely found their voice yet, but I do think they’re onto something. Their style is a refreshing contrast to the mindless self-indulgence of the wannabe numbers bands. In a world where Cookie Monster vocals are found in such vulgar abundance it’s nice to know that there is still room for a band to play 2’s and 4’s punk rock.