Ever since the first Advantage album featured covers of classic Nintendo tunes with the grit and muscle of underground rock, I’ve been hoping they might attempt a record of original compositions in the same vein. Yet for some time now, mirroring the rise of stylized recording techniques, highly melodic contrapuntal works have been out of fashion. There’s a sense in the rock world that, harmonically and melodically at least, everything’s been done; many bands react with musical simplicity alongside textural overload. The newly formed Portland-based group What’s Up?, despite their unfortunate name, succeed in channeling overtly composed songs through a bare, distorted sound, and the results end up relatively fresh by comparison.Founde... read more