The Young Sinclairs at Pianos, NYC

A more-than-perfect opener for The Lovetones, The Young Sinclairs not only impressed me, but won me over almost instantly as a new fan. This extremely talented young band plays a kind of retro-style rock and roll that seems to be making a resurgence with some artists I follow and admire lately. The Young Sinclairs have a name that brings to mind a decade past, and they have the songs to back that name up. With the familiar & enticing twang of a Rickenbacker filling the room at Pianos, The Young Sinclairs began their set with a song called Keep Them Paul, which like all of their songs, is a short one, and a bloody brilliant one. Since their songs are all around three minutes long, they got to play 12 songs for us and I fell in love over and over again with each song they played.
The Young Sinclairs are a five-piece band from Roanoke, VA, and are also members of a music-and-art collective called The Magic Twig Community. I mention this because John, the band member I spoke with after their set, told me that the guys I just saw perform that jangly, twangy, early 60s-style guitar rock and roll were all part of different projects back in their home base of Roanoke. This particular grouping from the collective, The Young Sinclairs, features John, Sam, Jonathan, Sean, and Daniel. By only reading the song titles, you might get the idea that these guys are a bit combative: titles like Push Down On You, I'll Get Even, and Tough Face may seem out of place for the actual sound of the band. But these songs are short and sweet, melodically strummed, and lovingly sung (much of the time in harmony). Songs are also accented with keys from a Moog.
Since their set was so much fun, I bought 4 of the whimsically-decorated albums The Young Sinclairs were selling (for a newer band, they certainly have recorded a lot of albums): Feel Bad, Tough Face, Indian Winter, and O Bummer. They will be for sale on The Young Sinclair's MySpace page very soon. And if you live near NYC, catch them at Death By Audio on June 20, or Cake Shop on July 22.