Somos – Temple Of Plenty

Unless you live so far underground that your iPod is filled with four-song demos from little known upstarts, then Boston’s Somos is probably nowhere near your radar.  But their debut full length, Temple Of Plenty, is going to change that.  The Massachusetts quartet has come out of nowhere to deliver one of the year’s biggest surprises and is sure to win over a sizeable fanbase in an equally brief period of time.

Fans of Motion City Soundtrack and Transit will absolutely eat up Somos’ combination of punchy guitars and silky smooth vocals.  Michael Fiorentino glides through each octave with just the right blend of levelheaded authority and finesse; accompanying guitars evolve from a sparkling glow into poppy spikes and sharp hooks.  From the first note listeners will know they’re privy to something special.

“Familiar Theme” rolls out the welcome mat as guitarists Phil Haggerty and Justin Hahn step in and out of the spotlight by interchanging between worlds of complex melody and simplistic power chords.  The effect prefaces the heightened attitude of “Domestic” in which Fiorentino’s emotional vocals speak with accented volume in the passage “why’d you have to have to age and go cynical… prey on the defenseless, call it strength of the lowest order.”  As the chorus weaves into a late song bridge, Evan Deges’ drums crash hard while guitars diverge into a spangled layer that cushions each lyric’s restrained anger.  Imagine if Everyone Everywhere had backed Taking Back Sunday but Joe Boynton (Transit) had stood in as frontman and you’d be getting close.

But Temple Of Plenty only truly takes flight upon landing the chorus of “Dead Wrong.”  Somos’ power unveils itself when the song hits the apex of its ear-grabbing chorus.  Easily standing shoulder to shoulder with any seasoned act, “Dead Wrong” is just the right combination of catchy and complex, technical but inviting, and most importantly, instantly accessible.

The album maintains this momentum right from “Lives of Others” through “Before You Merge” with the band making time for all sorts of sights along the way.  For example, “Distorted Vision’s” somewhat jarring chord selections and album closer “Before You Merge’s” pseudo-anthemic close-out offers yet another example of how Somos tightly tie everything together.

The talent scouts behind Tiny Engines are among the best and most passionate in the business.  While they often sign promising bands early in their careers only to have them snapped up by a combination of indie labels like No Sleep Records soon thereafter, Somos is a remarkable catch boasting a debut typically reserved for a band’s third of forth career release.  Much more than the sum of its parts, you can bet Temple Of Plenty is going to earn plenty of play time in the months ahead.  And while not a “summer album” per se, Somos have a crafted a feel good collection of nine songs are sure to brighten your life.