I’ve feared this day for a long time to be honest.

The scenario plays out very innocently at first: Tim encounters a smaller local band that he thoroughly likes. He gets their EP, listens to it almost daily, demands of his fellow writers why they didn’t tip him off sooner, and reexamines for the millionth time how so many different, but equally rad bands could coexist in this city.

Then he brings them home to the parents.

I’ve treaded carefully on bringing up local bands in this column for the very reason that parents (especially dads) tend to show no mercy with their music reviews, even with the locals. I frequently have this nightmare where some comment my dad makes results in a lawsuit from some sensitive, but ultimately powerful label that drains us of all our rad blog money (i.e. roughly $12.95, which we accumulated from finding loose change in couches), but I feel the production quality and off-center creativity of local bands should be spared from such scrutiny.

In any case, I feel like Plums’s EP, Jen, rises above such concerns by the sheer fact that it’s really, really good. This week, we looked at Jen‘s lead single, “Parking Lots”, and discussed what makes a great local band worthy of melting the feared judgment of dads everywhere.

#7 – Plums’s “Parking Lots”

Tim: Hold on, hold on, Dad… can you repeat for me the name of the band this week?

Dad: The Plums. What else did I say? The Plum Boys?

Tim: It’s just Plums, but I like the sound of Plum Boys.

Dad: I took a few notes down when I was listening to it on my headphones earlier. I thought it was a great hook, I like the music… I think you said it in the email how it’s like surfing music and you’re right. You call it “surf music”, I call it “beach bar music” though.

What’s the difference?

You know how go to a bar on the beach and there’s a band playing and you’re kinda listening to them, but kinda not? It’s like you’re listening to them and tapping your feet, but you’re 100% listening. The song was good, don’t get me wrong. It just wasn’t like, “oh my god, put down your margarita and stop the conversation!”

I mean, that’s a fair opinion, but I think of “beach bar music” as, like, Jimmy Buffett’s shit. You would put this in the Jimmy Buffett playlist?

No, not at all! They’re nothing like Jimmy Buffett; it’s just that the song wasn’t overpowering. The guitars were awesome though; I thought they did a real good job on the guitars. If I had a complaint though, it was the vocals. You call it reverb, I think? Like, when it’s like singing in a concert hall with nobody in there?

The vocals were too reverby for you?

Man, the vocals were so far in the background! I could barely understand what the hell he was saying! Actually, you always have bands on that are, like, “what are they saying?”

[laughs] You’re going to lose your mind the day I show you My Bloody Valentine. Is that crucial for you though, understanding the words?

See, I don’t like that effect, so yeah. I like to hear their sound and hear it clear. I don’t know if he’s trying to mask that he’s a bad singer or something, but I want to appreciate his voice! But, to their credit, you usually ask me what other bands the artist sounds like and, this week, I couldn’t picture or think of anyone else they sound like!

Wow, really? I mean, you should check out Real Estate and Beach Fossils if you like what Plums do, but still, that’s cool that this kind of stuff’s new to your ears.

I don’t really listen to this kind of stuff, this surf music or whatever. That is, other than, like, The Beach Boys.

Since this is the first local band we’ve looked at in a while, I’m actually curious about your experiences with local bands while you were in college. Did you have any good locals where you went actually?

Most of the bands at bars would just play covers, so nothing original there. The J. Geils Band were from that area, but they were famous by the time I was going to college, so I don’t know if they count. There was this one local band that played the auditorium while I was going to college… man, I have their cassette and I can’t remember the name of it! I can even picture them too! They sounded very J. Geils-y and were from Boston. They kinda made it big, but not nationally.

But you can’t even remember their name! Was it, like, you’d start following a band if they got on radio and stuff?

Well yeah, “making it” means you hear it on the radio. Don’t forget: back in my day, you listened to the radio to hear new music. So, if it was played on the radio, you probably enjoyed it. If a band didn’t make it on the radio, you’d have to find their album, which was probably obscure.

And you didn’t hunt for those obscure local records?

Nah, most of my friends and I just listened to radio. It was harder putting out a record back then; now, it’s infinitely easier to get exposure! You just YouTube it and get a viral campaign going!

It’s tough for me seeing whether other people outside the local scene would like a band in the way I do though, so would you enjoy hearing Plums on your radio if they came on?

I think it’s a good song, so yeah! And if you’re reflective of the music-buying youth nowadays, I think they could make it because it’s right up your alley!

Honestly, I constantly wonder if I’m still relevant or getting too esoteric with my music. It’s like what you say all the time: I just like what I like. I just think Plums make really likable music.

I agree. Their singer just has to fix his mic or something though.