Austin is a happenin' place, what with all the great bands surfacing from the town lately (Voxtrot, Belaire) and, of course, the legendary annual music festival South By Southwest. Well here's a new band from that area: The Lovely Sparrows. Their new EP, Pulling Up Floors, Pouring On (New) Paint, will be released the tenth of next month thanks to Abandoned Love Records.

“Chemicals Change” is a folk-pop track as catchy as can be. Cymbal and snare heavy percussion kicks in nearly a third of way through with added flutes create a near spastic folk quality but do not remove the underlying folk-pop sensibilities created earlier in the track. “If Love's A Sparrow” begins in a similar fashion: a soft folk sound with yet another rolling snare which grows and builds to a fantastic climax of pounding cymbals and guitars with reverberated distortion. “I Have A Need You See” takes a step away from folk and towards rock—70s classic rock in particular. Louder and with less of an experimental sound, the song holds together rather nicely with vocals that have hints of Ben Kweller.

While "Chemicals Change" and "If Love's A Sparrow" will be on the group's new EP, "I Have A Need You See" can be found on the Take Your Hats Off You Godless Bastards 7-inch single. The Lovely Sparrows are definitely worth a listen, maybe a download. And, if you're anything like this reviewer, you'll be picking up the EP when it comes out next month.

BAND LINKS

The Lovely Sparrows: MySpace