Reviewed! Stages & Stereos - Small Town Favorites EP

Stages & Stereos

Small Town Favorites EP

Equal parts Mayday Parade, Every Avenue and Boys Like Girls, Stages & Stereos could very well be the next big thing in the powerpop/pop-rock world, and their recently released EP Small Town Favorites has them off to a nice start.   

Small Town Favorites is bursting at the seams with shimmery, sun-soaked melodies that will surely make you forget that temperatures outside have dropped and that the leaves outside are changing colors. This EP excels during endearing moments when Stages & Stereos spend time waxing nostalgic in true heart-on-sleeve fashion (“Even Tides,” “1990”), though it’s clearly evident the band is just as comfortable in faster paced, uptempo settings (“Cool To Be Vain,” “Coup De Grace”).

Stages & Stereos offer flashes of their ability to perhaps transcend the pop genre with the closing title track, one that sounds as if it’s a long lost b-side to the Killers Sam’s Town record, and a song that allows for frontman Daniel Lancaster’s vocals to soar higher than at any other point throughout the EP. As they say, always go out on a high note, and “Small Town Favorites” does just that here.

Not only does the Small Town Favorites EP go out on high note, it also accomplishes something many other EP’s of its ilk do not – it leaves you wanting more.

Grade: B+

Go Download: “Even Tides”