Bellevue’s Ground Zero is an all-ages venue, but The Wanteds’ frontman Tommy Harrington would have no problem passing through the doors if it were 21-and-over.
The bearded 38-year-old rocker brings his catchy indie-pop music to the youth hangout Feb. 6.
The Wanteds have embarked on a West Coast tour to showcase songs from their latest CD release “Failure Looks So Good,” a 90s-tinged album with the needy openness to relate with teen crowds.
Harrington’s vocals are somewhere between those of The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan and today’s neo-punk singers. His compositions are along those same lines.
The guitar riffs on “Failure” smack of 90s alternative, the starting bass line for “Oblivion” hints at work from the Pixies, and there’s a subtle injection of “Zooropa”-era U2 in “Too Soon for Always.”
Harrington also manages to weave pop-punk sassiness into the songs with his vocals.
“Failure” is a generational mixed bag, but one thing The Wanteds don’t do is delve into the retro-80s sound that has swept through the modern music scene.
“It doesn’t have that Franz Ferdinand beat,” Harrington said. “It’s an old-school emotional record. We’re not really doing that dance-rock thing.”
“Failure” is a departure from Harrington’s last album, a solo compilation called “Let Go Afterglow” that relied heavily on electronic sounds and music-making software rather than studio jam sessions.
Harrington’s songs, regardless of how they’re thrown together, always exhibit the qualities of a competent composition, and his band plays tight on the album.
Adam Mack is on drums for the recording, and Ryan Muller, now replaced by John Blunk, is on bass.
Harrington claims the 90s influence in this latest compilation was a product of his settling in as a dad.
“You start to think about where you came from,” he said. “The 90s are where I came into music and when I found my identity.”
Harrington’s lyrics, with their constant theme of struggle and desperation, can make a full-blown adult cringe. But the Gen-X flair of “Failure,” coupled with its overall sound, helps redeem the album.
Joshua Adam Hicks can be reached at 425.453.4290
