Saw quite an interesting band Saturday night at Lovin' Cup. Interesting in its poppy meld of genres, interesting in the strength of its songwriting, interesting in its rhythm and lead guitar flip-flop, and interesting that all of that overshadowed the group's growing pains.

Hailing from Erie ,PA, Falling Hollywood came out with a reserved swing, with the acoustic guitar initially doing lead duty as the electric guitar provided the percussive chop. The band was devoid of any country twang, but initially brought to mind The Old 97's. The harmonies were right on -- and dead on -- throughout a fantastic set of original popified rock 'n' roll.

But as the band built up both in complexity and volume --- with both guitars electrified --- over the course of the nearly 90-minute set, it became clear that the bassist was either in the wrong band, or wasn't aware he was in a band at all. He clearly knew his way around his instrument, and as a performer he was engaging. But he overplayed everything, from scales to octave stunts. It proved very distracting from what otherwise was a good set, and it hindered what I feel would have been a dancing crowd (which still dug the band regardless).