Austin Sound

The four gents that comprise Austin’s electro pop rock circus Built By Snow have been toward something big, huge even, since their formation in 2006. One EP down, their new album MEGA, is a brightly lit kaleidoscopic fete set upon super catchy melodies that make you feel good. Great even, despite the truth outside of that warm bubble. You’ll want to live in that bubble forever for sure. This could be the album to listen to after a bad day at work or when you’re smitten - it’s so sweet and warm and fleecy on the ears.

Clearly influenced by the lightning bolt melodies of Gary Numan’s synth pop phenomenon, the Talking Heads peek into JP Pfertner’s vocals and high five that contagious Devo influence somewhere in the middle. Taking from the tenets of pop culture that saturated your world if you were a child of the 80’s, MEGA’s packed with images of video game characters we wish could be real, if only for an afternoon, like Pac Man. Who didn’t envy him? And his job? And that Mrs. Pac Man? Mmhmmmm!

There’re traces of Weezer here and there, but plugged into 4 keyboards and channeling the crazy crests the Flaming Lips resided upon before the LSD stopped making things so hilarious. Opening track “Giant Robot Attack” would perfectly score an intergalactic cartoon chase between the two bands, with drummer Brandon Stein’s drum dictating proximity and fumbles in the chase. “Something In 3D” is light-hearted and fun, and all the “whooo’s” invite you in, even if the futuristic-electro carny sound isn’t your bag. Pfetner’s vocals are even-toned and imploring, needing something tangible and not afraid to admit that it may be a stuffed bunny with floppy ears or a hug.

Carousing through “All The Weird Kids Know” these boys inhabit what the Cars hung up, dancing through rapid-fire nods to Pac Man, winking beats and super-charged melodies. Excavating long-ago buried memories, “Science of Love” brings images of Metroid to the forebrain, and Samus Aran’s wildly angular profile. It’s hard to not want this song to be about meeting his Metroid-tress, falling in beta-ray love, and having a family of Metroid-lings.

So, you’ll probably want to dance to MEGA a whole lot, regardless of where you are, or what you’re doing, because all 9 über-voltaic songs will give your lower half license - and shoulders - to forget about what kind of dancer you really are. Beware. Maintain focus and keep that peripheral vision in check, and try not to (entirely) give into the mellifluous wave coming out of your speakers.

Websites:
www.builtbysnow.com
Myspace