In San Francisco, merely uttering words that suggest you perhps don’t care for A B & the Sea is akin to cheating on the perfect boyfriend in high school who brought you stuffed animals as presents and called just to say he loved you [ok, I didn’t have one of those boyfriends either but you get get the metaphor, yes?]. Why, why would you do that? Koley O’Brien might just be that boyfriend, or at least that’s what A B & the Sea’s lyrics would have you thinking. With songs like "Yellow Haired Girl" and "We Can Ride Our Bikes to the Beach," A B & The Sea brought some sweet and innocent surf rock back to California via Wisconsin last Sunday night [does that sound strange to anyone else or just to me?]. A B & the Sea are what my co-editor Ada likes to call "nice guy rock." Where their lyrics lack in depth, their music makes up for in catchy-ness and musicianship. Their Noise Pop show at Bimbo’s was tight and energetic and the crowd was certainly in love. A B & the Sea made mama proud that night.
-Nicole Leigh
words and photo