Band Name: Violins

Album Name: Pink Water

Best Element: A combination of tremendous musicianship and incredible songwriting

Genre: Indie rock

Website: www.myspace.com/violinsviolinsviolins

Label Name: Contraphonic Music (www.nokarma.com)

Band E-mail: n/a

Violins is Brit pop sucked into the Bright Eyes vein – folksy, bluesy, edgy rock with lyrics that flow like narration. Lead singer Michael Lyons (ex-Clyde Federal) has a voice that closely resembles that of Connor Oberst, but with more of a hook to snag your ears and make you listen.

In spite of these similarities, the members of Violins are no copycats. Michael Lyons is a legitimate musician in his own right and has talented musicians accompanying him in conveying his story. Beyond this, the lyrics are ingenious. As you listen to the music, it’s hard to get away from the feeling that you are right there in the moment.

Lyrically, parts that stand out are in the song “Should You Find Yourself,” with lyrics such as “Still you’re honoring the contract/They required you to sign/Like it’s a moral obligation/When its crooked by design/When you use the word “agreement”/Do you know what this implies?/That the terms were once negotiable/Agreed on by all sides”. Also, the song “Sophie and Pierre” is incredible and moving in its entirety, so for sake of brevity, I will just point you to their MySpace page (www.myspace.com/violinsviolinsviolins) to check out more of their lyrics and listen to some incredible music.

-Andrea Caruso

sunshine131@gmail.com