Today, there is a lot of technological advancement. It is advanced to the point now, that it rules our popular music with auto-tuned voicing and digital mixes. Due to this, it would seem that music is dead for those that enjoy the pure sounds of instruments and voice quality.

Yet, there is still music to be heard and discovered. True that most of this music is created, produced and distributed by independent artists and bands, but now they are gaining popularity.

One such group, The Dives, hails from New York. This band is made up of four members: Evan Stanley, Mike Lefton, Jimmy, Meier and Sergio Ortega. Despite the fame of Evan’s father, frontman of KISS Paul Stanley, this group of musicians has a style all their own. The best description I can give this group is soft rock chord progressions with catchy pop lyrics.

This past week has been exciting not only for the band members, but for their fan following, myself included. On May 9th, the band dropped their debut EP on Spotify and iTunes. This is big news that followed their announcement a month before about going on tour. A band that is less than a year old is jumping the circuits fast to make the headlines.

They will kick off their tour next week with an official release party of their EP in New York before heading over seas to play in London and open two shows for KISS. For more tour information you can check them out on any of their social media platforms or by visiting www.thedivesmusic.com.

Enough about the band, what I really want to share is their music from their new EP. With only four tracks, it gives the listeners a sense of their style. Something I can only describe as original, yet familiar at the same time. It had the familiarity of British pop artists with new original catchy lyrics.

‘Man, Oh Mandy’ has a wonderful mix of harmonies and lyrics that had me singing along immediately. The easy listening and quick pick up in the chorus made for an immediate hit on my playlist. The next top hit, that might actually top as my new favorite song as well, is ‘Make It Like the Movies’. This song had a familiar sound to it while still displaying the originality of The Dives' writing style. ‘Anticipation’ showed the tight harmonies that these four have created. And the title track ‘Everybody’s Talkin’ put it all together. Evan’s lead guitar licks display a professional level not often seen in someone his age, and his catchy lines and vocal style are unmatched in today’s modern music. Mike’s vocals are equally as unique, yet they all blend in beautiful harmonies on each song. No rock song would be complete without the beat provided by Jimmy or the bass lines of Sergio.

All in all, The Dives bring something new, unique and pure to the music scene. For an industry that has been dominated primarily by techno and auto-tune for the last ten years, it is refreshing to hear pure instrumentals and vocals on the scene once more.