All Night Chemists: Spots

All Night Chemists
Spots
Soundtronics Sun
2007-08-17

Len Monachello grew up on Long Island and lives in Brooklyn, but in his heart of hearts he must be British. First, he calls his band All Night Chemists. Then he opens for Supergrass and Echo & the Bunnymen. And to top it all of, he records his second full-length in Liverpool with a producer who’s worked with Gomez and Badly Drawn Boy. So you’ll not be surprised to learn that Spots is heavily Britpop-influenced. His flat American accent might give him away as a Yankee, but Monachello does was he can to cover it up with anthemic choruses, a healthy dose of horns, and a songwriting talent that’s as comfortable reproducing the cold detachment of Blur-era Blur (“Sorbet”, “The Fog”) as the warmer, catchier sounds of a Supergrass or a Gomez (“Wake Up”). All Night Chemists might not be a Britpop band, but they do a decent impression of one.

RATING 6 / 10