Tucson, Arizona power pop veterans of the retro 60s sound, The Resonars last year put out one of my favorite albums entitled Nonetheless Blue. Their latest release, That Evil Drone, shows that the last album was no fluke. Much like its predecessor, The Resonars sound is focused on psychedelia in the Beatles Revolver-era. The chiming guitars and vocal harmonies of “World Apart” will thrill you. The fast paced fun of “No Black Clouds Float By” builds on the Monkees styled jangle and hyper-guitar solos between the chorus. Leader singer/songwriter Matt Rendon has absorbed every significant guitar style of the sixties era from McGuinn to Hendrix to Clapton. I’m not sure if The Pillbugs continue as a group, but The Resonars are rightly worthy of the crown for retro-pop this year (sorry, El Goodo it was close but they take it). “Run Kodiak Run” is an excellent instrumental with driving fuzz guitars, Rickenback lead and slightly distorted bass. “No Horizon” is another catchy gem, along the lines of New Colony Six and Paul Revere and The Raiders. By mid album, with “Black Breath” and “She Did” it shows more garage roots, similar to The Seeds sound. “Bird Using Bird” has that smokey blues feel that the Yardbirds used to do so well. And another instrumental, “Yes Grosvenor” is simply a masterful guitar exercise. That Evil Drone is an amazing album, considering that their music is technically complicated and spot on accurate to the period.
Listen to “No Black Clouds Float By”