Friday, August 22, 2014

Pompeii and Lisbon – Band Reviews

     United States trademark law (The Lanham Act) prohibits registration of marks that are “primarily geographically deceptively misdescriptive.” In contrast, Indie Obsessive loves band names that are representative of that string of multi-syllable words. Bombay Bicycle Club is from London. So is Bastille. Well, here are two more bands that generate music that should be on the radar, despite having band names that won’t be blessed by the Trademark Office.

     Pompeii is a four-member band from Austin, Texas. The song “Blueprint” is the first release from an album, “LOOM,” that is scheduled to drop on October 14. The song is one part Ambient and two parts Rock.
     Pompeii was first formed in 2004, but the band took a five-year break before working on “LOOM.” The members are Dean Stafford (vocals/guitar), Erik Johnson (guitar/keys), Colin Butler (bass) and Rob Davidson (drums).
     “Blueprint” by Pompeii


     Lisbon takes the geographically misdescriptive concept a step further. Lisbon is a UK band, rather than one from Portugal, and their recently released song is “Rio.” The hometown of Lisbon is Whitney Bay, Newcastle. The members are Matthew Varty, Joe Atkinson, Gaz Turkington and Alex Wright.
     “Rio” begins with an interesting stutter. Then, the song presents itself as fitting within the Pop genre. But the song periodically breaks into the Rock genre with its driving guitar. The Rock is most apparent (and energizing) after a pause at the 2:33 mark. 
    “Rio” by Lisbon

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