“Flirt” (by The Simple Carnival)

This EP consists of 1/3 of The Simple Carnival's 2008 album, Girls Aliens Food. A newly-remastered version of Girls Aliens Food can be found on iTunes.

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The Simple Carnival is not so much a band as it is the pop brainchild of Jeff Boller, a Pittsburgh-based singer/songwriter/musician who plays all thirty or so instruments on this EP, the first of a series to be released on FMA.

It sparkles with a late-seventies AM pop radio feel: sunshine pop-influenced harmonies, soaring melodies, tack piano, handclaps, and vintage keyboards dominate. Jangly guitars make several appearances, but any trace of a fuzz pedal is curiously absent.

Beneath the bubbly songs about college campus alien invasions, lovesick joggers, and the joys of trespassing is a surprising amount of emotional resonance: "I wanted to make an album that was both fun and serious at the same time," Boller says. "I like the idea of something that can be enjoyed for what it is on a surface level, but carries some weight for those willing to dig a little deeper."

"YAY! Looks like good music is coming back!" -Margo Guryan

"Catchy, sweet, tender, quirky, and sung with unbelievable charm. One of this summer's hits. (One of mine, anyway.)" -Louis Philippe

"[Jeff Boller] must be the long lost son of Brian Wilson if the mp3s on the band's web site are anything to go by." -This Almighty Pop!

"Jeff Boller is a one-man pop machine known as The Simple Carnival... and where the hell have his pop stylings been all of my life?" -RetroLowFi