"An ace little six track E.P dealio which holds the “all killer, no filler” credo close to it’s Telecaster-toting heart."

2017 has been a great year for guitar pop. Maybe it’s because I’ve been paying a bit more attention but there seems to have been an above average crop of rockin’, tuneful stuff happening all over the place. And bringing the year to a joyous conclusion are LA based garage-pop tunesmiths, The Condors. “Joie de Vivre” is an ace little six track E.P dealio which holds the “all killer, no filler” credo close to it’s Telecaster-toting heart.

If you’re looking for something to push an envelope, straddle genres or get Brian Eno all hot under the collar, then you’d better keep flipping through the pages of “Wired”. If however, you want some tough-but-tuneful music that falls somewhere between NRBQ and Jason and the Scorchers, then here ya go.

Lead Condor, Pat DiPuccio has been diligently plugging away with the Condors for a while – this is their fourth release, following the beautifully named “Tales of Drunkenness and Cruelty”, “Wait For It” and “3 Item Combo” onto the virtual and actual record racks – and “Joie de Vivre” proves that their bar-band apprenticeship was time well spent as it’s a collection of top drawer tunes.

The great thing about an E.P is, if it’s any good, it leaves you wanting more. Who remembers the early days of CDs when artists filled their albums up to the brim with almost anything, just because they could? Would you rather listen to six tracks of consistently great material or have to trawl through twenty tracks, just to hear the six or seven tunes that were any good? In case you’re struggling with that, the first one is the correct answer. You’re welcome. “Joie de Vivre” is like the fanciest appetiser at the swankiest restaurant in town. It’s just enough to get you all excited and you don’t end up pushing the scraps around the plate. There’s even a surf instrumental – “High Chaparral” tucked away in there, so you can practice your Dick Dale styled air guitar while you wait for the coffee and cognac.

There’s a lovely barroom feel to some of these tunes – the judicious addition of some boogie piano and some tasty gospel Hammond organ set tracks like “When You Call Out My Name” above the run-of-the-mill. Just like the excellent, Seattle based three-piece, the Cheap Cassettes, if you saw these guys in your local tavern, you’d stay to the end, dance like a lunatic and buy ‘em all a drink at the end of the night.

If you’ve been searching for something from the left field to leave on the coffee table for your brainy college buddies to be impressed by, then this isn’t for you, although you’d probably love it. If you’re looking for just enough high energy, catchy, rockin’ and melodic music to get you through your breakfast, then you should add “Joie de Vivre” to your “To Do” list.

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