Former Bare Wires bandleader Matthew Melton didn’t let last year’s bad breakup keep him down for long. Melton’s new project, Warm Soda, takes the same fuzz-filled approach to precious pieces of power pop on their debut, Someone for You. Though muted down in a noticeably restrictive lo-fi production quality (a cage for those radio- ready choruses), Someone for You keeps Warm Soda’s punchy rhythms and glammed- out, shimmering strut through a series of sunshine-y songs about lady lovers.
Warm Soda may be made of up of crunchy-looking, he’s-a-rebel dudes, but they sing about girls like masculine mirror versions of Phil Spector’s prodigies, packing their short numbers with lyrics full of romantic longing, misunderstanding, and heartache in- between their wild-living, jangling vibe.
Lighting those candles in his momma’s garage, Melton sings a couple of numbers, like “Violent Blue,” that make women into the ultimate mystery in a way that’s meant to seduce. Others, like “Strange as it Seems” and chug-a-long “Busy Lizzy,” neg Melton’s objects of affection for the environment they create for themselves – one that Melton wants to escape (sometimes with the girl, sometimes not), each song emphasizing his inner struggle to stay or go. Melton’s sometimes unwanted but well-intentioned “I can show you the world” attitude, sung in a cutting whisper, opens Someone for You’s garage doors up into a dream-like, hazy romanticism that feels both vintage and timeless. Seems that, for all the ladies’ names he drops, Melton’s truly married to the middle — an insatiable wanderlust and non-stop rhythm driving him to the next pair of lips and pretty turn of phrase.
Released on John Dwyer’s Castle Face Records, the tape and vinyl versions of Someone for You include bonus track “Reaction,” a hangover from Warm Soda’s earlier line-up. Now solidified with bassist Chase Oren, guitarist Rob Good, and drummer Ian McBrayer, Warm Soda’s confident, carefree sound and sweetheart daydreaming make for the most pleasant pop just this side of polished.
