Princeton

It's unusual to see a BBBD post on a Los Angeles band, which is truly a shame since ... we're based in the City of Angels! Frankly, there just ain't a whole lot of great groups coming out of L.A.; they all come to us!

In the opinion of this blog, Princeton (MySpace) has broken this trend, though. The Eagle Rock trio sounds just about as preppy as their name implies, but they're by no means a rip-off of, say, Vampire Weekend. Instead, these three compose lo-fi guitar-pop tunes that could be easily described as Swedish pop or confused with The Boy Least Likely To. Or maybe Field Mice. And they're definitely just as intellectual as their moniker makes them out to be:

Each composition on the [Bloomsbury EP] is lyrically focused upon a member of the influential Bloomsbury intellectual collective that existed in London during the early 20th century. Lyrical portraits of Leonard Woolf, Lytton Strachey, Virginia Woolf and John Maynard Keynes are each presented in a different musical framework with lush orchestral arrangements that draw from a collage of influences -- Serge Gainsbourg’s Gainsbourg Percussions, The Kinks’ Something Else, Jorge Ben’s Forca Bruta and Jean Claude Vannier’s L'enfant La Mouche Et Les Allumettes to name a few.

Interestingly, the 60s-beach-pop-cum-smart-twee is fronted by twin brothers! Very unusual! That, and their penchant for luscious string arrangements and fun, light mandolin lines makes them a unique and distinct outfit.

Check out a couple songs from Bloomsbury and buy the EP here!

Princeton - Eminent Victorians

Princeton - Leonard Woolf