The Innocent Bystanders release Attractive Nuisance

The Innocent Bystanders release Attractive Nuisance

BANDCAMP: https://innocentbystandersband.bandcamp.com/album/attractive-nuisance

In their debut extended play Attractive Nuisance, which is out this summer everywhere that indie music can be purchased, Californian alternative rockers The Innocent Bystanders unleash a gorgeously appointed and highly stylized interpretation of stripped down, DIY inspired fusion rock that is simply impossible not to fall in love with. Taking heavy influences from classic rock bands that relied more on clever lyricism than they did indulgent virtuosity, The Innocent Bystanders don’t necessarily sound like a band that has a lot to prove, but nevertheless they play like their lives depend on it on this record and it couldn’t sound much more passionate or genuine.

The southern California music scene is notoriously one of the hardest and most difficult scenes in the world to get any attention in, and it’s always been that way going back to the advent of the recording industry. That fact that The Innocent Bystanders have been together for such a short amount of time but are already garnering all of the press and fan attention, critical acclaim and buzz of some of the scene’s longest running and hardest working units speaks volumes to the collective level of talent that they bring to the table. To be frank, when I first listened to Attractive Nuisance in its entirety, I couldn’t help but feel like I was listening to artist driven music that had been crafted specifically with other musicians in mind. This is some really special play, and you can tell that they’re going out of their way not to cut any corners or employ any cheap tricks to get their sound to the level of warmth and stealthy swing that it enjoys today. The Innocent Bystanders are the genuine article, and their dedication to the craft is very evident in the resulting audio gold that they yield in the studio.

Songs like the easy going “Highways” and the deeply contemplative “Working Man’s Daughter” hint that this band could go in any direction they want given the right circumstances and setting, as they embody a lot of the freewheeling experimentalism of the avant-garde side of the indie rock world just as much as they do the blue collar, working road musicians’ side. There’s something for fans of every taste and background to get into on Attractive Nuisance, and if my money is right, there full length album debut will likely contain a lot more of the eclecticism and diversity of their EP in a much broader, more sprawling setting.

I highly recommend that music fans and enthusiasts check out The Innocent Bystanders this summer as they’re exploring and discovering new artists. I have a feeling that this is only the first of many occasions that I’ll be writing about their output, and as long as they continue to churn out riffs and harmonies that are as memorable and tightly constructed as the four sweet slices found on this rookie offering, I think we’re going to be in for a series of hot releases from these San Diego rockers.

Anne Hollister