The Village Green

"Their stoner charm and exuberant embrace of British Invasion pop melodies bring to mind early Supergrass laced with more than a hint of Liam Gallagher's 'fawk you' snarl." - The Portland Mercury

Let's not mince words. It's not a "safe" choice to name your band after The Kinks' 1968 pop masterpiece, The Village Green Preservation Society. Yet, upon hearing the Portland, Ore., power-pop combo's ebullient melodies, spot-on harmonies and ample supplies of deadbeat-dandy charm, even the most jaded journalists, those with the most tightly folded arms in the room, must begrudgingly admit that these very up and comers are worthy of growing crowds, noticeable local radio airplay and even their chosen moniker. And though we live in an era when backlash can set in before any actual success has been achieved, it took only a song-and-a-half before I, a model contributor to a notoriously snarky alternative weekly, turned to my +1 and uttered those rarely heard words, "These guys are actually really good."

Much of the credit for the band's strong sound belongs to the singing and songwriting of J. Nicholas Allard, which owes an equal debt to the playful pop piracy (or more politely, pastiche) of early Supergrass and the dire and dramatic Plastic Ono Band- era scream therapy of John Lennon. This tempestuous young man, who until now was more legendary around town for picking an ill-fated fight with a pack of "Joey's" who were heckling his friend's band, smashing an irreplaceable '72 Telecaster while performing at a sushi restaurant and generally being a loveable loose cannon, has finally mastered his "artistic temperament" enough to snarl out lines of laziness, loathing and love for his perennially gray and provincial hometown. Like Liam Gallagher and Kurt Cobain before him, Allard is a diamond, both polished and rough, capable of transforming, with equal parts finesse and fury, the poetry of everyday life in a nowhere town into anthems for gloomed youth who don't live in London, New York or L.A.-and are all the happier for it.

But upon witnessing the band live, one immediately realizes that, regardless of Allard's accomplished song-craft, his music's fullest realization is the result of assembling some of the finest musicians in a city of fine musicians. The recruitment of Rick Bain & The Genius Position mainstay, Nathan Junior, on keyboards and guitar, along with the exceptional vocal harmonies and rhythmic precision of bassist Dave Depper, and drummer Jeremy Sherrer allow The Village Green to turn heads without having to rely on elaborate wardrobes or $50 haircuts. In an era of pre-fab sensation bands sprouting from the hipster mecca of the moment, it's nice to think that a little band from Portland, Ore., could, with dirt beneath their fingernails, make music that, well-BEWARE: HUGE CLICHÉ AHEAD-means something.