WHY NOT "THE CHARISMATICS"?:

Rumpus room rock: Members of North Carolina's Piedmont Charisma discover they're trendy (John Sewell, Knoxville Metro Pulse)

The Piedmont Charisma (the band doesn't use the article on its album covers, but hey, neither did The Ramones) has, unwittingly or not, found itself lumped into the new wave of new wave niche, a classification that includes oh so trendy groups like The Faint, Hot Hot Heat, The Liars, et. al. And hey, Piedmont's keyboard-heavy self-titled debut album (Slave Records) really does conjure up audible images of early XTC, The Yachts, and maybe even the slightest dose of Cure.

"Lots of our reviews really have lumped us in with the retro thing, which isn't exactly what we're trying to do," says Piedmont guitarist Ben Ridings. "That's kind of weird because nobody in the band actually listens to that 'new' new wave stuff.

"Actually, the new wave connotation has turned out to be kind of a hindrance because people think we're trying to latch onto another gimmick," Ridings continues. "I mean, we really do listen to XTC, Squeeze, and Bowie. But that just happens to be what we all like: not that we're trying to be kitsch or latch onto some kind of trend."

XTC is retro? Goldang, we're old. Posted by Orrin Judd at January 16, 2003 10:43 AM