Underrated Revisited: The A-Sides

Sometimes great bands get overlooked. You know, like how your parents paid more attention to your gorgeous, honor roll making sister than they did you. This section of the blogosphere is devoted to those bands who never really got their due years past...

The A-Sides


If you live/lived in the city of Atlanta or its perimeter, and listened to 99x on Sunday nights from 8 - 10:oo pm, then you might recognize this band.

The A-Sides are 5 piece band from Philly, US, that make a niche brand of pop music; specifically one that recalls the power of a pop band, the calmness of a folk band, the sensibilities of modern musicians, the lyrics of Joie Blaney, and the ethereal-ness of Band Of Horses. They, in fact, put the "Brotherly Love" in "The City Of Brotherly Love." Along with Social Studies, they were probably one of the most underrated acts of '07.

On their second full length (but first on Vagrant Records, also home to Dashboard Confessional, Murder By Death, and Thrice), Silver Storms, the band harnesses frontman Jon Barthmus' calming voice and their "soft-when-it-needs-to-be-heavy-when -it-needs-to-be" noise to mold a crisp, cool landscape of sound. From tracks like "We're The Trees," with its dance-able harmonies on a sturdily built pop foundation, to ""Diamonds," a slow moving track that chugs along and climaxes 6 minutes later, Silver Storms is that perfect mix of reflective lyrics and smooth melodies with a sprinkling of snow and fairy dust.

Album available here.
The A-Sides site here.

the a-sides: "we're the trees"
the a-sides: "cinematic"

Your electric bird,
Erika