I approached this after looking at the band's PR pic (not that one up there) and blurb thinking that Tulips -- I can't be arsed to figure out the code for that umlaut -- were going to be vaguely like The Muffs, or something. But one listen to the superb Doom and Bloom, out November 13 on Lolipop Records, revealed that I was wrong. Tulips are making indie-pop that ranges from the riot grrl-riffs of "Queen's Arms", to the Paul Westerberg-ish hooks of "Pretty Girls", and on to the buzzing indie of Bis-like "Jitterbug" -- and that's just to mention 3 songs off this one.
Tulips -- Angie Bloom (vox/guitar), Taleen Kali (vox/guitar), Miles Faster (bass), Travis Moore (drums) -- are adept at sort of blending a bunch of worthy influences into something fresh that moves quickly. There's nothing wasted here and each cut is uniformly catchy and full of a little of joy at playing and rawking out and that's something to be cherished in these cold times. The lo-fi charms of "Hopefully Hopefully" are ones that nod in the direction of shoegaze stuff as well as early Juliana Hatfield cuts. It's a lovely tune that is fuzzy in all the right ways. And it's one of my faves on a record that has a lot of similarly great tunes.
Really, Doom and Bloom is a helluva lot of fun and truly a pleasant surprise 'cause I sort pegged this band wrong based on the pics and promo piece I'd read. Dive into this and be pleasantly surprised too.
Doom and Bloom by Tulips is out on November 13 via Lolipop Records. Follow Tulips via their official Facebook page.