The Tender Idols

Distressor (E-magine)
by Scott Hefflon

In an age of fabricated pop bands and a backstabbing DIY underground, it’s rare to find a pop rock band of majestic proportions without the stench of overhype knocking you senseless. Damn good British powerpop bands are common, as are pushy PR companies, but sometimes ya find a band you’d listen to on repeat for pleasure and have to fight the urge to fawn and gush to anyone who’ll listen.

It’s all in the details… The Tender Idols are from Atlanta but have a British singer. One of the guitarists is into the lush texture of Midnight Oil and The Church, the other is into George Harrison and Keith Richards, and it shows. So while there’re a lot of rich, warm sounds and a tendency for the vocalist to skip into falsetto at the drop of a hat, there’s an American rootsiness to the backbone. There’re tender moments of orchestration alongside strong acoustic strummings that tickle yet bite like passing your hand quickly over fields of wheat. English posturing and American swagger meet at the pub/bar and lock arms to sing and only occasionally arm-wrestle.

Don’t be afraid of the pop tag, they’re just a rock band with a penchant for writing melodies that sound great with lots of extra harmonies and huge production.
(601 West 26th St. 11th fl N. New York, NY 10001)