Elsinore Chemicals

Remember those cover bands in college? They'd set up in the front of the main room of a frat house or on stage at the campus bar and play crowd-friendly tunes while everyone danced. Lots of light beer would be spilled. Did your college cover band ever keep it up and produce a pretty marvelous full-length album of quite impressive indie pop?

Yeah, neither did mine. But the folks out at University of Illinois, Champaign got lucky with Elsinore, a foursome who have managed to astronomically surpass their cover band days with Yes Yes Yes. A collection of feel-good, head bobbing tunes, Yes Yes Yes is particularly notable for the complexity of its instrumentation "” every track is feels richly layered, whether it's a slow, introspective song or a soaring anthem (these guys clearly have stadiums in mind).

Then, of course, there's the vocal prowess of Ryan Groff. The ringing ease of his high notes brings to mind Ben Gibbard, but the richness and depth of Groff's voice adds a dimension of celebration that Gibbard often lacks. This is further showcased with rich harmonies from the other three band members, a consistent and welcome presence throughout the album.

Overall, it's an album worth listening to in full. I love the dramatic ebb and flow of "Gasoline," and the more introspective of "Breathing Light." But for a first taste, I have to recommend the album's title track; "Yes Yes Yes" is an indie pop tune made for dancing, and while it would certainly be a hit at a frat party, these guys have clearly musically graduated to grander things.

Though... I still wouldn't mind hearing a rendition of their former crowd-pleaser "Baby Got Back."