Move over Mrs. Butterworth, here come The Syrups

By Damian Kilroy

The Tower District will play host to one of California’s most exciting bands tonight, when The Syrups take to the stage at The Starline. The band is currently touring the state to promote its self-titled debut album, and The Syrups continue to impress wherever they go.

After managing to coax legendary producer Geoff Emerick out of his pipe and slippers and back into the studio to work on the album, The Syrups have attracted much media interest, Fox News even touting them as “the American Beatles”

Emerick, a Grammy award winner whose credentials include work on The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road, was attracted by the talent and energy of The Syrups after seeing the band on tour with Blondie.

“ I have not heard so much energy and camaraderie since The Beatles,” Emerick said in a promotional release. Comparisons to the Beatles are common and often misleading, but Emerick is more qualified than most to make such a comment.

Any resemblance to the mop-top scousers is no coincidence, however, as The Syrups cite the Fab Four as a major influence along with other British acts such as The Smiths, Elton John and Elvis Costello.

Currently signed to independent label Beck Records, The Syrups are enjoying all the creative freedom and sense of adventure that only an independent label can offer, which comes across in their music and live shows.

“ We’re comfortable together playing what we like, and we feel like we’ve not only grown up together, but that we grow together as artists every day,” guitarist Pat Walton said in an interview with Web Music Review.

The Syrups are by no means the finished article, but it is their raw potential, coupled with a mature attitude, that makes them so appealing.

“The Syrups is the perfect situation for all of us, and as we get tighter as a unit, we find that we’re coming into our own as both songwriters and performers,” Walton said in the Web Music Review interview. “We’re always evolving. It’s about enjoying the adventure and avoiding those bad hair days.”

With a rapidly developing fan base, The Syrups have also been spreading their wings globally, being played regularly by influential disc jockey John Peel on his BBC Radio show in London.

With such high praise being put The Syrups’ way and experienced heads behind them, the ball is already rolling at an increasing rate. Now might be the best time to catch this band in an intimate environment, before they start playing the bigger venues for the bigger bucks.