according to Moldowan, that they would be included. They already had a great relationship with Simkin, who was very hands off about their joining the label. “He basically said just go make the record and send it to me when it’s done.” Originally, Moldowan wanted to call the band Times, but Powell wasn’t feeling it. “There’s a lot of shitty band names out there,” says Moldowan. “Really you just have to have a band name that’s okay... Then the name becomes cool by doing something that’s worthy. Take away the bias that you have toward the band, because you know all of their material, and just look at the name. If you’ve never heard anything by U2, for example, it’s kind of a shitty name. So the band name just needs to be okay.” While searching for something better, Powell stumbled upon Fine Times: An Oral Memoir, a fictional piece by Woody Allen. The hippie in him saw the happy accident as a sign. The two have played together long enough
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to be comfortable making fun of each other, and their dynamic works both as friends and bandmates. Powell seems more focused on the smaller details and the business side of the band, while Moldowan is more focused on the meaning behind the music. When asked about metaphors in some songs, Powell defers to Moldowan. When asked about the track sequence, Moldowan defers to Powell. “That’s how things sort of teeter with us,” says Powell. “I’m concerned with the visual elements and the track listing, but if Matt leaves to go to the bathroom, I couldn’t fully explain the meaning of that song.” “Sometimes [a song] just comes together really quick. Those are the best songs. That’s why ‘Hey Judas’ just always feels right because it came together really quick,” says Moldowan “That’s the most important part about writing pop songs. You’ve got to make it feel like someone’s familiar with it already, and you’ve
never heard it before. Ultimately that’s what makes the song catchy. It sticks in your head. It’s comfortable.” And listening to Fine Times does indeed sound familiar. They’ve incorporated epic song intros reminiscent of the Killers, musical interludes of Phoenix, melodies of Two-Door Cinema Club, and the energy of the Strokes. Give the album a few listens, and chances are you’ll be singing along. Tracks like “High Brow, Low Times,” “Lions,” and “Into the Mechanarium” with their repetitive choruses, simple lyrics, and bop-your-head-along melodies, are songs you’ll be happy to have stuck in your head, long after the album is done. From start to finish, it’s an impressive debut effort from this band that has the timing just right and the name just fine.