Tomten

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More About

• Ray Davies
• Jim Morrison
• Brian Noyeswatkins
• Indie Rock and Indie Pop
• Hip-Hop and Rap

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Tomten won Sound Off! earlier this year, but perhaps more impressive than their victory was the way they stood out from the competition. While the other groups in the annual underage battle of the bands ran the gamut from dance-pop to hip-hop to the requisite Northwest-indebted indie rock, it was Tomten’s fuzzed-out, psychedelic ’60s sound that won over the judges. And while genre revival is hardly a novel concept, few young bands pull it off so convincingly and with such confidence and bravado: listen to the sprightly organ intro on “The Pleasure Is All Yours” from their self-titled debut album and you’ll get the idea. It also doesn’t hurt that singer/organist Brian Noyeswatkins sounds like the lovechild of Ray Davies and Jim Morrison, crafting pop hooks that, while rooted in the past, are indicative of a bright future. With Fox and the Law, The Turpentines, Ambulance. ANDREW GOSPE
Fri., May 13, 7:30 p.m., 2011