FamousFM - "The Long And
Short Of Measuring Up"
Manwithburden
Music
Ah, pure, sweet, pop. This area has been breeding pop bands like crazy
the past five years or so, and FamousFM proudly follows in the
tradition of Ultimate Fakebook, The Get Up Kids, The Creature Comforts,
Moaning Lisa, and Podstar.
However, FamousFM plays music that is more pure pop than pop-rock. I am
not saying this is a bad thing- no, not at all. Almost every song on
The Long and Short of Measuring Up is infectious and catchy, as all
good pop songs should be. All the choruses are instant sing-alongs.
"Little Miss Galaxy"s chorus especially sucked me in with its "Why
don’t we wait and see if this is one more for the losers?" line.
The guitars and bass work nicely together, playing off one another to
create some memorable riffs and melodies - especially "Style Points."
The drums hold everything together and provide nice, tight, head
bobbing beats. John’s vocals are very similar to Matt Pryor of the Get
Up Kids’ voice.
Unfortunately, FamousFM really isn’t doing anything that hasn’t been
done countless times before by Cheap Trick and many other bands.
Granted, it is done well, but it’s nothing new under the sun. This is
really my only complaint with Famous FM. They just need to find the
thing that separates them from the rest, and they'll be well on their
way to becoming one of the area's best pop acts.
The Long And Short Of Measuring Up
is a good step towards what could eventually be a GREAT pop act.
Everything’s there, and there are hints of what may be eventually be
something very different and new. For example, there were hints of
keyboards and distortion that were welcome changes from the jangly
guitars. Given a year or two, FamousFM could become the band that
everyone’s talking about. Let’s hope so.