Key Tracks: “Mi Casa,” “If It Didn’t Get to Me”

It is no surprise that the indie music scene is booming. Within the last year alone, bands like Mumford and Sons and The Black Keys, as well as solo acts like Bon Iver have taken over the radio waves, album charts and award shows. It is also no surprise that unsigned indie bands are taking advantage of the current popularity trend in order to get their name out there.

One More Sun, a female-fronted Hilliard, Ohio band, is using a quirky take on The Strokes-like sound to bring to the Columbus area.

The young five-piece’s EP, Cheap Thrill, takes on a lighter side of indie, dabbling in synths and upbeat guitar riffage and a softer take on vocals from lead vocalist Katie Dotson. The album sounds self-recorded, which gives volume levels a bit of a problem. Too often, you can either barely hear the instrumental parts over any vocals, or the vocals are too quiet that lyrics are inaudible.

Vocally, Dotson can hold her own during most notes, but some note transitions make her voice sound awkward.

Instrumentally, the band coordinates everything well. Guitarists Brandon and Corey Ziegler can work together very well with melodies and harmonizing, and drummer Brett Phillip does his job well and never tries to show up anyone in the band or give the album any sort of unneeded fill.

“Mi Casa” and “If It Didn’t Get to Me” are the more upbeat tracks on the album, giving off the appeal of The Beach Boys-esque classic surf rock.

“Yellow Lights” is the only slow tempo song, and the Zieglers give an interesting back-and-forth guitar sound during verses.

This little band has some potential about them, so long as they work more with their production quality. Still, Columbus is in for a treat as One More Sun hits the indie scene.