Invisible Hand are a group out of Charlottesville, Virginia who have played with the likes of Yo La Tengo, Real Estate, and Deerhoof, venerable groups who surely found Invisible Hand’s grasp of concisely effective power-pop too good to pass up. Also, you would never have guessed that some of the members “served time as actors (including bit parts as Bat Boys and Charles Darwins), a full time food enthusiast and a visual artist with a knack for the French chanteuses of bygone era.” Now that the fun facts are out of the way, let’s get to the tunes. The guitars on “Lies Lies Lies” play like an ardent growl, a repetition of thick chords running into a chorus where trickling keys accompany an anthemic spur of “lie, lie, lie… well I’ll lie.” Totally infectious. Meanwhile, “Winkle” is hidden under more scraggly distortion, but that doesn’t stop the hooks from flowing. A wavy guitar encompasses a thrilling and loose bridge that brings visions of Pavement to the forefront, with a smart pop-rock mentality that would make Alex Chilton smile. Want to hear some direct, catchy tunes without the filler? Start digging into Invisible Hand’s releases.
