One of the great bands that was part of the line-up at DangerBird records on Saturday afternoon was The Fling, a quartet (although they were 5 on stage) that it is very hard not to fall in love with, as their songs sound like a combination of the Beatles and Fleet Foxes, with sweet and rich vocal harmonies all over the place, heartfelt melodies catchy as hell, bright guitar riffs, a bit nostalgic at times but seemingly having absorbed quite a lot of influences.
Their melodies are very remarkably easy to enjoy and catch at the first listening, may be because they borrow from our collective memories of bright pop tunes, but still it is not an easy thing to do.
Take ‘Strangers’, it has all the elements to be an anthemic ballad that you want to sing along at the top of your lung, without being too bombastic. They also played some songs that sounded more Americana-folk, with slide guitar and clear vocals (like Devil’s Man), showing a diversity in their overall bright 60s-bound sound.
Formed by two brothers from Long Beach CA, Dustin Lovelis on guitars and vocals, and Graham Lovelis on bass and vocals, the band, which also consists of Justin Roeland on guitars, keys, vocals, and Justin Ivey on drums, has already put out a full length album ‘When the Madhouse Appear’ in 2010, after releasing a previous EP, ‘Ghost Dance’, and a 7″, ‘Out of My Head’.
One of their track ‘Wanderingfoot’ could well be a hit if they could reach a larger audience, as all their buoyant pop songs were right away accessible, and layered with so many soaring harmonies from the Lovelis’ vocals, that the hot sun was not the only thing melting the crowd.
Some songs like ‘Day I Find’, or ‘Out of My Head’ were particularly Beatles-que, but you are gonna say who doesn't remind you the Beatles these days? And it certainly doesn't help that the DJ played Lennon just after their set, but no, these guys sounded really like an early dreamy version of the Fab Four at times, just go to their bandcamp page: http://thefling.bandcamp.com/