Fitz & The Tantrums is a new band from LA. Inspired by Stax and Motown, the band sounds like a bit like the band ABC sounded to me back in the early 80's. A caucasian approach to soul music, it relies heavily on organ and horns to provide gravitas to the songs, which are good, but not great. The band is led by Michael Fitzpatrick who sings vocals (and has a disconcerting shock of white in his hair), and he had the good sense to hire Noelle Scaggs as the female vocalist, who's got a really great voice. You can't get away from their song "MoneyGrabber" lately, it's even being used in a T-Mobile commercial. I got into them after seeing them on "Live at Daryl's House", where they did an amazing set. http://www.livefromdarylshouse.com/currentep.html?ep_id=48 Their latest disc "Pickin Up The Pieces" is very good, and a nice addition to the blue-eyed soul niche. But I've got a problem when a band suddenly comes out of nowhere and all of a sudden are everywhere. The disc is very good, but by no means a classic. (There are 3 or 4 very good tunes on the disc). Maybe they could've waited until their 2nd disc to have sold out, but I also understand that there's no guarantees that a 2nd disc would materialize so "take it while you can". Seeing them at Bowery Ballroom in a few weeks, they're supposed to be very good live.
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