The Eames Era - Heroes and Sheroes

Do you like sweet indie pop that bursts with energy and exuberance? If you answered "yes" then you'll most likely enjoy The Eames Era. If not, you could enjoy them anyway for their upbeat, infectiously singable tunes...maybe, maybe not. Anyway, The Eames Era was formed in 2002 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana by two high school guitarist buddies; Grant Widmer and Ted Joyner while enrolled at LSU. Joined by drummer Greg Gauthreaux and bass player Brain Waits they originally called themselves The Double Zeros. The missing piece to the puzzle came in the form of songstress Ashlin Phillips. With the quintet complete they changed their name to The Eames Era in honor of celebrated designers Charles Eames and Ray Eames (who designed famous pieces like this and this).

The second full length release Heroes and Sheroes follows their debut Double Dutch which saw significant airplay on college radio and earned them spots on Grey's Anatomy and Falcon Beach with the song "Could Be Anything." Self-released back in April 2007, the album Heroes and Sheroes is 17 tracks that flow seamlessly together, causing anything from head bobbing to toe tapping. The sweet vocals of Ashlin Phillips is a perfect combination of Jenny Lewis and Emily Haines. She provides depth and sincerity when keyboards, handclaps, and the ba-ba-ba-ba's boarder on twee-pop cliché. At no point do the clichés sound trite or out of place. They're fully aware of their sound and manage to turn the clichés into strengths. If more proof is needed, Ms. Phillips' backing band can play with the best of them, giving crunch and and a kick of soul to their melodic arrangements. This album could be described as irreverent, lively, and energetic. As a whole, the album is very enjoyable. There are a couple weaker songs, but none are of the throw-away variety. It's relatively easy to hear which are the strongest tunes. One of these is below, entitled "Fake Do-Gooders", which has a great hook and catchy melody.