Tiny Tide

Tiny Tide is a pop band out of Cesena, Italy and their name is intended to be a poke at the pretentious "New Wave" label. Even so, The Wildheart EP kicks off with The Smiths and the Cure, which has a serious new wave sound straight from Bauhaus. Part of it is that Mark Zonda's voice reminds me a bit of Peter Murphy and the bass intro reminds me of Bela Lugosi. That mood lasts until the bridge, where a more modern pop aesthetic takes over until the verse comes around. It's got a tight groove and is a great start, albeit a bit different than anything else on the EP.

More typically, the songs remind me of Gruppo Sportivo, between Zonda's accented English and pop sensibility. He even sounds a bit like Hans Vandenburg. Needful Things has a sweet bass and piano accompaniment to a simple vocal (the live link skips the piano). While the intro has a touch of Billy Joel, the Gruppo Sportivo comparison is most apt. Take the piano from the intro to Sportivo's Armee Monika and the vocal from One Way Love and you're close. Still, even though Tiny Tide has a deep love of retro pop, the music isn't too cloying as they tend to cut it with a more modern use of noise and mild sampling.

Road to Fairies is another very pleasant song, built on a foundation of finger picked guitar. The smooth arpeggios, distant vocal, and tasteful strings come together to form a satisfying whole. It's a beautiful ballad. The touches of echoed keyboard hiding in the background add a little bit of musical depth that foreshadows the keyboard solo bridge.

Stylistically, The Wildheart EP avoids having a clear genre -- the unifying theme is a love of retro pop. Still, there are some interesting musical moments waiting for you here. Sample a Campari Negroni and let the Tiny Tide roll in. - JESTER JAY: MUSIC AND OTHER ESSENTIAL THOUGHTS

Tiny Tide is a creation from the nation of Italy. They are self-proclaimed as spawning from a “Mark Zonda cover band.” Mark Zonda is the guitar-holding and keyboard-wielding front-man, Manuel plays violin and bass, Mic Starr plays drums, and Dendrix plays guitar. They refer to themselves as an indie pop arcade rock else group. I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean. Tiny Tide has a solid sound. It’s nothing over the top. The Ronta EP contains five songs, with one of the songs being a remix of another song on the EP. It actually makes the song “Girls From Ronta” kind of annoying because it’s placed back-to-back. It’s an okay first attempt for their debut, which leads us to their first full length, Febrero. The first track, February surprised me greatly! After the Ronta EP, I wasn’t expecting much more from Tiny Tide, but they seemed to start let loose and begin experimenting with their sound. The choice was a vast improvement for the band. The sound originally seemed contained in The Ronta EP, but seems to blossom in Febrero. Febrero contains a menegeraie of sounds producing a wide musical experience. They seem to be having fun with what they do. Isn’t that what music is all about? - Even In The Future Nothing Works