Of Submarines and Headlights @ Mercury Lounge

Submarines; Headlights
@ Mercury Lounge
New York, NY - May 30, 2008

There is some debate, including among the bands themselves, as to whether the definite article belong at the helm of each band's name, so we're just going to skip it.
Submarines are shiny pop from Los Angeles (look at the City of Angels making a comeback) and though they mean to recall 60's flowers and sunshine and something between mods and hippies, there is a slick, city of shining light, edge to them. It doesn't seem to make much sense to use a laptop full of beats when you have two guitars, drums, and a glockenspiel, but somehow it works. Cute lead Blake Hazard recalls Laugh-In era Goldie Hawn with her aw shucks sentimentalism and when she sings the band's towering "You and Me and the Bourgeois" she is absolutely sensational.
Headlights are a lot darker than Submarines and yet the best way to describe them: like the Strokes...but happy. Gallant flourishes of soft guitars, more keyboard and xylophone-like prancing make for smiles but it is balanced by heavy fuzz, a little distortion, and some dark vocals. It all comes together with a thorough, consistent percussion, and they know what to add and when to add it.