Smith Westerns Essentials

Chicago band Smith Westerns take the bombast and theatrics of glam and run it through a garage rock filter to capture the infectious quality of both with each perfect-pop recording. Influences such as David Bowie and Marc Bolan are manifest, with the band favouring phased fuzz and spacey reverb, along with the occasional chamber pop organ, to create a bright and wide open sound. Their later work has a strong psychedelic undercurrent and Britpop leanings, with tracks often easing into dream-pop-like jams with plaintive piano passages.