Starlight Mints, JP Incorporated August 13, 2009

The audience feels good as cellos, violas, pianos, xylophones, trumpets, guitar, bass, drums, bongos, theremin, synths and velvety-smooth backup vocals march in to beat on their ear drums and do a little musical spring-cleaning. The Starlight Mints (Allan Vest, Andy Nunez, Marian Nunez and friends) use this instrumentation to blend influences that span big band, string quartets, soundtrack scores, bubblegum, psychedelia, Americana, Britpop and '80s synth. They weld all these pop forces together into a Sherman tank of indestructible tunes. What makes it even better, though, is that Starlight Mints seem to be just as wrapped up in this warped dreamy celebration as the listeners.