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Formerly called The Bees, the Nashville-based band had to change names when a U.K. band already shared the same name. So before re-releasing its sophomore album High Society, the quartet began calling itself The Silver Seas.
Most bands that come from Nashville, Tennessee are usually associated with country music. Surprisingly, The Silver Seas have more hints of a jazz/swing-like influence than anything remotely resembling twang. The smooth like silk “We’ll Go Walking” sounds like it could have been made by Norwegian singer/songwriter Sondre Lerche from his Two Way Monologue album. ”The Broadway Lights” gives you a great stroll-through-old-time-New York feel while the piano melodies in “Tativille” remind you of a more Fiona Apple-like styling before revealing its true Beach Boys imitation.
That imitation extends further with boy-likes-girl tale “Ms. November.” ’70s pop/R&B are also huge influences on the band’s sound. Van Morrison is instantly imagined with the upbeat opening “This Country Life.” The melodies are definitely modernized so as to not to have a cheesy retro sound that some bands tend to do. The harmonies on “Hard Luck Tom” are so fantastic and nostalgic that you’d wish there was more added to its two-minute track time.
It’s funny though that all of the romantic and lubby-dubby lyrics come less from a past break-up but more from classic sitcoms. “I was wishing someone would hear one of my songs and pick it up for a sitcom theme,” lead singer Daniel Tashian confessed in a press statement. “There is something about that music – songs from “The Odd Couple,” “Laverne and Shirley,” the “Pink Panther” cartoons –that got ingrained in my brain.”
The innocence in those shows of a time long ago is captured well in the jumping-on-love-clouds “Imaginary Girl.” The feelings and the lyrics sound so pure that it kick-starts you into a daydream of your first love. This writer was taken back to a very long time ago, but the sentiment should be non-generational and universal. High Society sounds so polished that you’d be surprised it was recorded in only two days. The album really grows on you, and so does the band.
