We discovered these guys right after launching the site last July, and I have been wanting to come and cover one of their shows ever since. A lot of people describe these guys as having a strong nineties alternative sound, something sort of akin to Jane’s Addiction and that ilk, and yeah I would say that I agree to a certain point, but what I really think is that these guys are now the alternative to the alternative.

In a time when Portland’s producing tons of acoustic indie artists and the new phenomenon of huge bands thriving on accordions, violins, stand up bass players and songs that tell epic stories rather short trysts into a recent break up or angst filled rants, The Wanteds give you some good music that just simply rocks without assumptions of sophistication and challenges you to just bob your head along to the music and even start thinking about going back to the old days when people would mosh at just about every concert you saw in Portland.

Now that I have had the chance to see The Wanteds play a few times, I can safely tell you that they are a good bet as far as a strong show in Portland. They always bring great energy to the stage fronted by Tommy Harrington with his bright and energetic singing and pointed and sometimes punchy guitar playing and backed by a solid no-bullshit combo of drums and bass that keeps things moving right along and never dull.

Are these guys a throw back to a sound of yesterday? Yeah, they are to a certain point. Is there anything wrong with that? Absolutely not. Portland shouldn’t forget that music doesn’t have to be bright and frilly to be fun, it can have some depression and angst too, and we should also remember that over sophistication of rock can take away from it. If you don’t believe these things, then get your ass into a Wanteds show. They’ll show you what rock is really about, and you’ll have an amazing time listening too.