Infinite Shuffle

It took three listens to their self-titled debut album before I realized who Motopony sounded like. From the soft, airy vocals of Daniel Blue to the light, melodic instrumentation, this Seattle quartet is very reminiscent of Junip.

It’s almost as if Jose Gonzalez and crew had tweaked their sound a little bit then put out a new album. On songs such as “June”, “Seer”, “King of Diamonds”, “God Damn Girl”, “Wake Up” and “27”, Motopony conjure up thoughts of the Swedish geniuses while still managing to retain their own identity.

One reviewer on Amazon.com referred to the band’s sound as “alterna-folk” — a label I will be stealing for future use. On their bio, Motopony lists their sound as “hard-soul/glitch-folk.” They take the Junip sound and amp it up with doses of pop and funk.

The manner in which I discovered the band — via a Facebook ad — is just the latest addition to the long list of ways I’ve found new music. I randomly saw the ad on the side of the page, kinda liked the band’s name and decided to click on it — I assumed I wouldn’t like it at all and it would only be a waste of a few minutes.

The ad took me to a video on YouTube for their big single, “King of Diamonds”.

Needless to say, the video piqued my interest, so I watched a couple more videos then downloaded the album. I think it would be a worthwhile purchase for anyone who likes Junip (duh), Fleet Foxes, Iron & Wine, Bon Iver or any of the many other folk-pop outfits dotting the indie scene these days.