Eastern Conference Champions sound like a winner

Eastern

Conference Champions have returned to the scene of the crime. Forgive the

Philadelphia trio if they are treading lightly on this trip to Los Angeles.

ECC had taken up part-time residence in L.A. last winter, pulling a successful

residency at the Silverlake Lounge, only to

have their van burglarized and all their gear stolen in late February. They

regrouped, replenished (thanks partly to the largesse of some equipment suppliers) and

hit the road. "It's funny," singer-guitarist-pianist Josh Ostrander says,

"but through our gear getting stolen, our live show actually got better."

Then, two weeks ago, when "Ameritown" was released on Suretone Records, a scheduling

snafu forced the band to move a record-release show from CineSpace to Silverlake at the

last minute. Suffice to say the mood will be more celebratory when ECC headlines Safari

Sam's on Monday.

"Ameritown" may surprise anybody who witnessed those garagey club shows in

February. The album, produced by Owen Morris (Oasis, the Verve), is a charmer, with

Ostrander's pinched vocals twined with his languid piano lines and the pressing beats of

drummer Greg Lyons and bassist Vern Zaborowski.

The album includes material from the band's two well-received EPs, but the rest was a

rush job. "When we signed" in late 2005, Ostrander says, "I thought,

'Omigod, I have no songs.' " He took three months off to write, all but

sequestering himself to come up with material: "I shut everything off to try to

write something original. No cable TV, no radio — maybe a little Marvin Gaye in the

morning to get us going."

He's proud of the final product, which he says sounds "really big, without being

overproduced or glossy."

||| ECC performs tonight at Safari

Sam's.

||| Download: "The

Box."

Photo by Jason Odell

Comments

[Larry]

I love this band! One of the few albums in quite awhile where every track is amazing - a

real ALBUM, imagine that? Go see them play tonight at Safari Sam's

[Larry]

I love this band! Finally someone put out a complete ALBUM, track for track this thing

is solid! Go see them tonight at Sarari Sam's - 10:30 stage time