Strange Names - Use Your Time Wisely (2015)

It has only been a few months since Strange Names landed in New York City, but the time for this daring pop trio of 20somethings has most definitely come. 'Use Your Time Wisely' is a firecracker debut LP jammed with energetic, angular, romantic songs that sound at once ageless and completely contemporary. The band came together while Francis Ximenez and Liam Benzvi were students at the University Of Minnesota and ditched their previous groups to start playing together, eventually recruiting Fletcher Aleckson to complete a perfect triumvirate. They quickly became one of the most talked about acts in their hometown of Minneapolis and, with an eye on bigger things and college graduation over and done with, the band picked up and moved to New York. While Strange Names' rambunctious sound and sly take on modern life is completely of the moment, the band, which came together amidst the close-knit Minneapolis music scene, can't help but see their first record as something of a second chance. What they ended up with was a collection of TK driving songs that are deceptively simple, raucously compelling and defiantly youthful. The guys strive to echo the inclusive vibe of the new wave bands they love, groups like the B-52s, Human League and the Talking Heads that didn't leave anyone out of their party. "We're always fighting the avant-garde within us," Ximenez says with a smile. "We're trying to find a middle ground where the music sounds like us but is still accessible."