The Ostrich Egg: Music: The Spinto Band

The Spinto Band is an immensely catchy indie power pop band that I happened upon quite a while ago. It's songs - as brilliant and captivating as ever - have continued to pique my interest with each passing through my indie play lists. With imaginative lyrics matched by assorted vocals (at times powerful, at times wavering) and an upbeat pop-rock feel, the powerful sounds of this East Coast band will definitely stick with you. The layers of sound, woven through with unique instrumental elements (like kazoos featured in the song Brown Boxes), ultimately create the perfect mesh in a series of musical masterpieces. Each song in their repertoire remains distinctly different -- yet, if one song should be crowned their piece d'oeuvre, their latest single release Oh Mandy would take the honor.

While songs like Crack The Whip and Did I Tell You? from their album Nice and Nicely Done have emphasized their definite rock out quality, Oh Mandy has become the breakaway hit of the album. With a ghostly ambiance to the vocals and guitar, yet the propulsion of a strong beat and the band's pop roots, this song has captured a synthesis of sounds unlike anything I've heard before - undoubtedly lending to it's staying power on my mind and play lists.

The music video for Mandy is equally as haunting, employing stop motion animation combined with photograph cutouts for some really neat animation work.