Smith Westerns

Mischievously baby-faced Chicagoans chewing out carefree rhythms on barbed-wire bubblegum, Smith Westerns battered a collection of glam-rock earworms on 2009’s self-titled debut. For 2011’s Dye It Blonde, the group moved up to the big leagues: sounding like the Bay City Rollers as produced by George Harrison, Dye It Blonde blows kisses at all the little girls, promising dreams fulfilled and nights danced away on clouds of billowy pianos, shiny guitars, and breathy vocals. Pouty lead singer Cullen Omori is cute in an appropriately non-sexual way, and when he sings shy come-ons like, “Weekends are never fun, unless you’re around here, too,” you can practically hear the desire-filled screams chasing his voice into the ether.

Updated 01/24/2012