Cassette Review: Puzzled "S/T" (Hair Growth)

[$5 // http://hairgrowthrecords.bigcartel.com/product/puzzled-s-t // https://puzzledoakland.bandcamp.com/ // https://hairgrowthrecords.bandcamp.com/]

The first of these eleven songs by Puzzled has male and female vocals interacting over melodies that makes me think it's going to have that twee feel and perhaps even be a less obnoxious version of Cars Can Be Blue.    When you listen to all of these songs through though you realize that the sound of Puzzled is something else.

I'm not entirely certain I would call this garage punk or indie pop but it falls somewhere between those two, in this sort of genre that should seemingly already exist as it is a combination of genres yet I can't really place my finger on any specific band that does what Puzzled is doing here.

At times it can remind me of The Mr. T Experience, yet at other times I have the songs at a combination of Superdrag and The Thermals.     In any event, the songs just flat out rock (which is all that really matters) and they had my almost three year old son dancing around the living room.

The lyrical content of these songs is what perhaps gets me the most though.    From video games to missing shoes, the song about his friend being in jail is a hit in my book and in a perfect world where the radio hasn't become what it has become that song would be on at least every two hours on my favorite station.