Right on the front page of their Myspace, The Wellingtons establish one important fact: Life is too short to listen to bad power pop. And they’re right, it is. So you should definitely check out The Wellingtons, because they indeed play good power pop. Their music is very reminiscent of an era gone by; the late fifties, early sixties, perhaps. The thing is, they’ve gone and taken it apart piece by piece, tweaked it in some places, took out what they didn’t want, and put it back together. What they ended up with is an album of finely crafted and noticeably honed pop music that is solidly catchy and accessible through and through.

Though the album is called Heading North for the Winter, it reminds me more of a sixties beach party, where everybody is surfing in the fashionable swimwear of the moment. The best part is, it’s just as fun as one. The members of The Wellingtons obviously have great pop sensibilities, because pretty much every song is radio friendly, and most of them are catchy enough to be a hit.

I like that they use a good variety of instruments, too. They have a keyboard player that doubles as a piano player, and there are various songs on which they use horns, and even one song with a music box-esque effect that serves as a sort of overture for the song, introducing you to the wonderful upcoming melodies that are about to ask your eardrums if they may have this dance.

The lyrics are mostly about girls and the like, or perhaps boys, depending on who in the band writes the songs. But this is not a band that’s attempting to break the boundaries of music as we know it. This is a band that is dedicated to fun, and it really shines through in their music. You’d probably have a great time if you got to hang out with these people.

The Wellingtons play some seriously catchy power pop. They’re a rather bouncy band, which is great, cause those are declining in number and quality quickly. Heading North for the Winter has an insane amount of hooks and each song seems catchier than the last. If you’re wondering exactly what they sound like, the best comparison I can think of is The Pink Spiders + Houston Calls x The Beatles = The Wellingtons. Do yourself a favor and open your ears for them, because, as they’ve so correctly established, life’s too short to listen to bad power pop!