We both know you're not from around here

Pointing out the similarities between Pavement and New York band Sam Champion is like saying Oasis sounds a little like The Beatles: it's been said, many, many times. Granted, neither Sam Champion nor Pavement have been around long enough to be a household name, but if the former keep sounding as good as the latter, that may change.

It's singer Noah Chernin's yowl that brings Stephen Malkmus to mind, though his band sounds much more cleaned up than the epic fuzz of Pavement. Instead, Sam Champion - not named after an identically-named New York-area weatherman, claims the band - recalls the endearing sloppiness of The Replacements and, yes, The Beatles. They sound more like the drunk Fab Four of "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)", though, than those Gallagher brothers ever did.

Sam Champion - You Can't See The Stars In This Town

This song, from their debut Slow Rewind (coming out this fall), is just great in the way the melody drives the whole thing; Chernin's never afraid to sound a little like he doesn't know what he's doing. He does, of course, and the song waltzes to near oblivion, with the kitchen sink barely surviving. And is that a trombone?

The rest of Slow Rewind sounds a lot more like Pavement than this song, and it's not a bad thing - I mean, what's wrong with Pavement? - but this song shows off the band's strength: paying attention to the songs and what each of them need. And, really, when an album contains a track with a chorus of "I'm too broke to get drunk", can you go wrong?

Slow Rewind isn't out yet, but you can check the band out on Insound and iTunes.