Musical Style and Influences
Much of the band's music is characterized by Lytle's analog synthesizer and the fuzzy guitar, bass, and drums of the rest of the band. The band has variously been described as "bittersweet indie space rock", "neo-psychedelic, blissed-out indie rock", "dreamy, spacey psychedelic pop", and "an uneasy combination of warm, tactile guitars and affectless electronics". Jon Pareles of The New York Times described the band's songs as "stately anthems orchestrated with full late-psychedelic pomp: fuzz-toned guitar strumming, rippling keyboards brawny drumbeats".
While the band have sometimes been described as 'alt country', in Lytle's view it is the sentiment of country music that the band embraced rather than the musical style. In their early days, the band's lo-fi sound was compared to Pavement. The band has also been compared to Radiohead (even described as "the next Radiohead" in 2001), The Flaming Lips, and Elliot Smith. With Sumday, the band were compared to the Electric Light Orchestra and The Alan Parsons Project.
Lytle has cited both The Beatles and E.L.O. as influences, stating in 2003 "I'm completely in tune with E.L.O. and Jeff Lynne - I know that guy like the back of my hand." He stated in 2009: "I think the majority of my musical influences were set in stone when I was five or six years old."
Lytle's vocals have drawn comparisons with Neil Young.
Read more about this topic: I'm On Standby/Stray Dog And The Chocolate Shake
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