Bands! Pick a name and stick with it. It is less confusing for everyone and no one thinks your name is as corny as you think it is. We're going to let this one slide though. Nathan Pemberton's move to change his band name from Continental Divide to Holiday Shores—the name of the beach town where he grew up—was a good one. Mixing in full-bodied Beach Boys-style instrumentation, shimmering organ and distantly yelped vocals, it pretty much sounds exactly like the music you would imagine would come from someone who grew up so close to the beach. Put us in a room with a bunch of instruments and 90% of our songs will sound like bootleg versions of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," put Pemberton in that exact same room he'll make a great pop album with infinitely catchy melodies and a sense of restraint that usually comes from bands just hitting their stride with their third albums. Columbus'd The Whim is out August 4th on Two Syllable Records, and the band is playing a million New York shows including tonight at Le Poisson Rouge, tomorrow at Cake Shop, the 4th at Pianos and then a final show at Shea Stadium, the confusingly named Brooklyn venue that has absolutely nothing to do with baseball or stadiums.
Download: Holiday Shores, "Phones Don't Feud"