Mark's Midnight Carnival Show

While the name of the band might immediately evoke some sort of percussion-heavy, accordion-driven, Tom Waits-esque freak show, the indie rock of Mark's Midnight Carnival Show is a far cry from any of that. Drawing more from acts like Spoon or Cursive, frontman and chief songwriter Mark Bush has a knack for crafting decent, catchy mid-tempo pop rock, especially on songs like "Dancing." While the opening cut, "Save Yourself," has a cool repetitive guitar riff, the southern Colorado-based trio concentrates more on the songs than on any sort of flashy soloing. If anything, Bush's vocals are the main focus here, and his delivery, whether hovering around the middle range or reaching for high notes, is controlled and clean.