Someone for You

Oakland's Warm Soda have an affection for both garage punk and sweet pop; they also have a sense of humor, a strong instinct for songwriting, and were early supporters of New Millennium Mustache Club. They also have a stellar debut in Someone for You. Matthew Melton—he of the late Bare Wires and proprietor of Fuzz City Records—and his bandmates are genius at taking memorable hooks and simple song structures and turning them into a kind of forbidden treat … or perhaps, as their name suggests, a kind of corrupted treat, something that's not nearly as saccharine as it should be. Someone for You is energetic and brisk, with songs racing along on staccato guitars and power-pop constructs from the late '70s, or politely stomping to glammy beats from the same era. Hints of 20/20 and Redd Kross emanate from the wickedly hooky "Someone for You," "Jeanie Loves Pop," and "Star Gazer," while the prickly punk tones of Iggy Pop and The Saints are woven into tunes like "Violent Blue" and "Spell Bound." Their modest name belies the fizz within; this is tasty stuff.