The bill was stacked for indie-pop the other night with Smallpools, St. Lucia, and Two Door Cinema Club all converging on the Royale for two evenings of catchy, synthy jams. However, Two Door Cinema Club has never grabbed my attention and I can’t really seem to find anything unique or interesting about St. Lucia. Therefore, I went to this show solely for the short opening set from L.A. newbies Smallpools.
After their debut EP dropped this Summer, I was instantly hooked. It comprised of four completely infectious tracks that stayed in my head for weeks. Combined with their super entertaining music videos, it seems to me like these guys may be the next big indie-pop thing. While that has yet to be determined, their set the other night once again demonstrated the possibility.
While their set time was constrained to half an hour (not that they have that much music anyways) and started at 6:00 pm, the crowd made it early to the sold out show. Despite their saccharine sweet synth-pop sound, the band unfortunately didn’t seem too excited. They played off the show as if nothing special was going on. Considering that the last time they were in town, they opened for San Cisco in a venue less than half the size of the Royale, this was likely one of their biggest shows to date.
What the band lacked in excitement, the crowd made up for. A surprising number of people knew the words to “Dreaming,” and I heard a few girls recognize “Over & Over” from the band’s Snapchat marketing ploy that took place a few days earlier.
After their current nationwide tour, they will return to sunny L.A. to record their debut album, either making or breaking their upcoming indie-pop star status. I’m awfully eager to hear what they’ve got, but after this show, I need a little more convincing.