BM Linx - The Portable Genius - 2006

I know it's been a LONG time, but this is another entry in my "Pleasantly Surprised" catagory.  I happened to fall upon this band on a sampler disc of unknown origin a long time ago.  I had downloaded the disc, burned it on a disc and deleted the files.  Why?  Because sometimes I do stupid things.  What made it worse, I neglected to write the track listing down, and none of the artists.  So, for years, I had NO IDEA who the hell this was.  I had the one track by them, Understanding Orange, although I didn't know that's what the name was, and I didn't know their name, either....

SO, after listening to it for probably two years off and on, I finally snapped.  I picked out snips and pieces of the lyrics of the song and googled them.  Fortunately, the lyrics popped up, and I discovered BM Linx and Understanding Orange.

The next task was finding their album.  I'll tell you, no one anywhere had posted it.  So, this was actually the first digital download I ever purchased with my hard-earned.  BM Linx, I'll tell you guys right now, it was worth it.  Totally.

Their sound is very retro.  I don't know if I'd classify it as 80s.  Musically, they sound something like the Pumpkins, but tighter.  And the drums remind me a lot of Duran's Roger Taylor.  The guitar and bass sound very reminiscent of New Order or the Cure.  And I can't place the vocals.....

Every song is a tight little ditty.  No mush, no ballads.  Just toe-tapping, head-bobbing, finger-snapping garage rock.  The pop hooks are everywhere.  And lyrically, they are very teenage.  I can't tell if they're trying to make fun of teen angst and pop culture, but it comes across like that to me.

Although classified as an EP, it has more tracks than some albums.  And, a bunch of mixes as well.  I hated the original cover, so I remade it with a blank tape.  It captures that 80s feel, and riding in your car with a tape deck, windows down, summertime late Friday night, rolling through the parking lot of several dozen parked cars full of teens out socializing - flirting, passing numbers, laughing and smoking cigarettes.  And you and your buddies slow it down, and turn it up.....

BM Linx - The Portable Genius - 2006