((Evangelicals)) Band Profile and Upcoming Los Angeles Concerts - Oh My Rockness

I still can't decide if Evangelicals' singer Josh Jones sounds like Alec Ounsworth (of Clap Your Hands) or Cass McCombs or Rufus Wainwright. Weird. Anyway this Oklahoma quartet (there are other bands there besides The Flaming Lips) plays crazy skewed pop that falls somewhat into psych territory, but really that's just because the songs are strange and sometimes they "jam."

A lot of the time though, this just sounds to me like good old-fashioned math-rock. There are lots of guitar noodlings over falsetto squeals (courtesy of Jones) that zigzag up and down over pretty straight-forward melodies. Call Evangelicals an accessible inaccessible band. And for a group that likes to get all insane with structure, it's comforting to know that Josh Jones can actually sing. His pipes keep the band's intentional musical misdirections from becoming a chore to listen to.

Published January 2, 2008