The Sonic Executive Sessions "2010"

I don’t know how I missed this one last year, but I heard the gorgeous harmonies on the Japanese Relief Compliation and knew they deserved a review. This Swansea UK based band is a trio of vocalists: Christian Phillips, Ryan Aston and Tim Hamill. Opening with the slick “Someday Maybe” it recalls the heyday of the boy band era (which is still very popular in Japan).

What makes these “boys” stand out is a concentration on catchy melody with superior a cappella skills. On the terrific single “You’ll Never Be Happy,” it sounds like the second coming of The Wondermints. “Make Do” is another gem with a vintage lounge feel, and you’ll hear techniques of The Beach Boys harmonics in the backing vocals. The piano ballad “For You” slows things down to a crawl, but “Somewhere Else” builds to a gorgeous chorus that would make Roger Manning, Jr. proud. “The Only One” and “For All That I Know” don’t quite make it to that level of memorability, but does make it comparable to the power pop band, Taxiride. There are far too few of these masterful harmonic bands out there, so this is a welcome addition.