Posted on: September 29, 2010 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

The amount of individuals that contributed in some meaningful music way to “The Pestilence is Coming” is enough in number to make a small town. Forty individuals throw in with “additional performances”, and their work can easily be heard during the entirety of “The Pestilence is Coming”. The Minor Leagues play an interesting brand of indie rock that does not really have any temporal link. There are hints during the band’s first track “Grand Opening” of Husker Du, Uncle Tupelo, and even The Ramones. Extra kudos has to go to The Minor Leagues for correct grammatical usage throughout all supporting material; the band even knows how to properly throw in commas in a sentence phrase, as well as the difference between double and single quotation marks.

What this has to do with the music that is contained on this album is beyond me, but The Minor League plays a very marketable and pop-influenced brand of indie rock that anyone that calls themselves a fan of music can get behind. The band knows how to arrange perfectly, so that a sizzling guitar solo can present itself even as the bass audibly chugs in the background. Listeners can enjoy the fact the The Minor Leagues is just that chipper when they are talking about the upcoming “Pestilence”. The band is like Wolfmother in the sense that both acts perfectly recreate a brand of music from their childhoods (or before they were even bored). However, unlike Wolfmother,

The Minor Leagues decide to focus on sixties pop and rock instead of seventies arena rock. The overall sound of the band is so convincing at points that they could compete even with the similarly-aged antics of Adam Green. There are “suites” that individuals are supposed to listen to (perhaps 4 sides of two LPs?), but the entire disc enjoys a high amount of cohesion. The Minor Leagues cut hit after hit on “The Pestilence is Coming”, and while the theme may not be always present on this album, the band makes a hell of an album. The Minor Leagues is yet another act that Datawaslost has smartly worked with; if it can be fathomed, The Minor Leagues has actually increased Datawaslost’s stock in my eyes. Always fun and entertaining, “The Pestilence is Coming” is the feel-good hit of the entire summer. The band may not be doing the indie style du jour, but they craft their own sound (which relies heavily on earlier styles) that will bring listeners in droves.

Top Tracks: Cut the Company Ties, The Pestilence is Coming

Rating: 8.7/10

The Minor Leagues – The Pestilence is Coming / 2006 Datawaslost / 15 Tracks / http://www.minorleaguesmusic.com / http://www.datawaslost.net / Reviewed 10 August 2006

[JMcQ]

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