Under the Radar: Dropsphere

Remember that period of music after Nirvana but before the Backstreet Boys (or Korn, if you went in the other direction)? Well, the guys from Dropsphere do.

Dropsphere is an alt-rock group hailing from Tuscon, Arizona, and their sound hearkens back to the oft-maligned post-grunge era, with echoes of Live, the Goo Goo Dolls, and early Matchbox 20 in every note of every song. Formed in early 2006, Dropsphere lead singer Chris Sahlin says that for him and his band, the song itself and playing the song is the most important thing. Dropsphere isn't interested in doing something outlandishly creative or groundbreaking; they just want to play some great songs. Based on what I've heard on their MySpace, mission accomplished.

The music itself is something refreshing when pressed against current popular music. Self-described as " hooky AAA pop rock", Dropsphere seems to have the anthemic pop ballad down to a science. I've only heard the 5 tracks on their MySpace player, but "In My Hand" and "Dose" stick out to me as their best work both lyrically and musically. Hearing this band play and more importantly, hearing why they play what they play and the fact that they don't care about the stereotypes and stigmas tied to radio-friendly pop-rock, it's understandable how they got to open for Collective Soul shortly after forming, and why Sahlin is "a sucker for the John Rzezniks and Rob Thomas' of the world."

It's unknown what Dropsphere's plans are for 2008, or whether they have an album out/in the works. But if you go to their MySpace page you can hear their music (definitely worth it), and they have about a dozen songs available through SnoCap. Also, a few members of the band saw brief success in a band called Nevershine. CDBaby has both of their albums.

No MP3s from these guys yet, but for God's sake go give them a listen for yourself.

Dropsphere on MySpace
Nevershine on CDBaby

==TJ==

PS: My feature on Sheena Beaston is up on her site now. Thanks to her for the support!