LIVE: Warm Soda @ Valentine’s Music Hall, 3/30/13

Review and photographs by Kirsten Ferguson

“We’re Warm Soda from Oakland, California. That’s basically San Francisco, but cooler,” said Matthew Melton of the West Coast garage-glam band Warm Soda, his follow-up to his previous outfit Bare Wires, which broke up last year. Warm Soda has a new release, Someone for You, a tinny, fuzzy blast of power pop perfection, and they played most of the album’s songs at Valentine’s, including the sugar-coated sing-along “Jeanie Loves Pop” and the love-besotted title track “Someone for You.”

It was an end-of-the-tour celebration for Albany’s country-punkers Slaughterhouse Chorus, who had just returned from a trek around the country with the rough-edged, ramshackle duo the End Men. Jack Russell Terrorists opened up the night, while Saratoga’s Party Boat brought their effervescent, laidback melodic surf pop — as refreshing as the cool breeze referenced in their song “Salted Sea.” Don’t miss Party Boat when they open for Brooklyn’s the Babies tonight at Valentine’s.