Electric Pop for the Summer

My First Earthquake: Rebecca Bortman (Vocals & Lyrics), Andre Salcido (Drums), Dave Lean (Guitar), Chad Thornton (Keyboards, Bass & Songwriting)

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oking for some fun, cool tunes for the Summer? Look no further than My First Earthquake’s most recent EP, Crush. This band has a peppy electronic pop sound with a harder rock and roll tinge that makes for some addictive listening. And not only is Crush a nice little collection of catchy tracks, but it’s also completely free!

My First Earthquake is also a band whose members have interesting pasts. Lead singer and lyricist Rebecca Bortman is a visual designer who has worked with such electronica acts as DJ Amplive and Mercury Rev’s bassist, Anthony Molina, who coincidentally produced Crush and their previous album, Downstairs. Chad Thornton, the band’s keyboardist and bassist, had given up on rock and was working at Google designing Gmail’s chat feature until he met Rebecca Bortman. And before My First Earthquake, guitarist Dave Lean was an engineer at Apple who helped design the hardware for the iPod and the iPhone. And drummer Andre Salcido was in a band that played with GWAR, Royal Crown Revue, and toured Europe.

But now they’re all together, making great music. And My First Earthquake has a sound that simultaneously reminds you of new wave bands like Blondie and modern acts that harken back to those days like Mates of State and Office. As a result of this mesh of styles, Crush has this playful giddiness mixed with a buzzing distortion that comes from 80’s influenced synth, punk guitars, and modern indie pop’s happy-go-lucky and slightly experimental sensibilities all coming together. Add cleverly quirky lyrics, such as the first verse of “Ice Queen,” which goes:

You go out on a Tuesday night
You go grope and pout.
I stay in and curl up
with Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.
You come home smelling
Unlike your own cologne.
This romance is growing inverse
To my pant sizes..

and you get something so endearingly offbeat and amusing that I bet you’ll be listening to this EP’s four tracks on repeat.

So if you’re looking for some fun, interesting music to listen to over the summer, maybe while you’re picnicking, cooking out, going to the beach, or whatever you’re doing this Fourth of July (at least for all you American readers), then Crush is definitely something worth checking out. It’s also probably worth your while to check out their previous two albums: Downstairs, which costs only $5, and Tremors, which is a free EP like Crush.

Download Crush by My First Earthquake completely free at Bandcamp!

My First Earthquake – Pick Up Stick Up
My First Earthquake – Neon for You
My First Earthquake – Masada
My First Earthquake – Ice Queen

Also make sure to check out My First Earthquake on Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace.