Saturday People

Personnel: Greg Pavlovcak, Terry Banks (vocals, guitar); Archie Moore (vocals, keyboards); Ara Hacopian (Fender Rhodes piano); Dan Searing (drums, percussion).
Recording information: Omega Studios.
Washington, D.C.'s the Saturday People play '60s hum-and-strummed folk-pop that's wonderfully fine-tuned through '80s power pop radio. It's hardly a surprise, then, that the band's first full-length is a jingle/jangle pop explosion, with 15 singalong songs that stick in skulls long after the "bah-bah-ba"s and "la-la-la"s have faded from the speakers. No wonder, too: the band's members hail from such pop-perfect acts as Velocity Girl and the Ropers, among others, and have more than their fair share of experience in crafting simple yet simply irresistible songs about, well, guys ("The Main Without Qualities" parts one and two) and gals ("Upside-Down Girl," "California Girls"). Fans of the Lucksmiths, Ladybug Transistor, the Byrds, and the Beach Boys should find the band's catalog a treasure trove of hip-swiveling and toe-tapping riches. Yet, for as enjoyable and infectious as their nonstop pop is, the Saturday People have little to distinguish them from so many other pop bands of the past and present. Which, depending on how you like your pop, is either their strength or weakness. ~ Jimmy Draper