SWEETLY sung pop with a dark, grungy underbelly and feisty punk attitude, Rainbow Reservoir are as entertaining as they are hard to categorise.

The melodic, but hard-rocking, three piece, is the vision of American singer-songwriter Angela Space – and her ultra-vivid, offbeat, and slightly warped, imagination.

The Connecticut-born, North Oxford-based artist is a classically trained musician, who, when not penning tunes for her band, can be found teaching saxophone at the University of Southampton. Yet, despite her talent, she admits she only started writing when she came to the city eight years ago.

Initially appearing as a solo artist with a piano, she now wields a guitar alongside Oxford drummer and bassist Max Higgs and Oli Hewer – both of whom have a respectable pedigree on the local rock scene.

“We play melodic power-pop or bubblegum punk,” she says in her sing-song New England accent. “It’s punk in spirit and upbeat, has lots of rhythm, and can be romantic but with a dark side.”

And it started, like all good things, because there was nothing better for her to do – at first with typically quirky tunes like Common Jezebel and I Would Like To Kill You.

“I started a few years ago alone on a piano as when I moved here I didn’t have anything to do,” she smiles. “I had just quit an amazing job in the US and thought ‘what can I do?’ “I sang in the closet for years, then recorded two CDs. I didn’t do it for anyone else but myself. I didn’t think about playing for people; I couldn't see why you would.”

She called herself Rainbow Reservoir after the name of a district of her hometown, Windsor, close to Connecticut’s capital, Hartford.

Her first gig was supporting Oxford country-rockers The Epstein at King’s Place, London. “I was terrified but I kept telling myself I only had to do it once,” she recalls. “I was surprised when people came up afterwards and said they liked it.”

She goes on: “Then I started playing the guitar.

“As the other guys have come from a hardcore punk tradition, a guitar sits easier. And playing with a band is so much cooler.”

Oxford Mail:

Tonight they play a free show at The Library, in Cowley Road, for its Smash Disco night with low-fi pop act Beta Blocker & The Body Clock and Telegrapher.With a sound which has been compared to Magnetic Fields, Belle & Sebastian and Daniel Johnston, Angela is a prolific writer who insists she is inspired by “literally everything”.

She has just completed her 98th song – Henry’s Theme, written for The Library’s co-owner Henry Cullen.

“He said he wanted me to write a song like Tony’s Theme by The Pixies, so I did,” she says. “And I’ll be playing it at the Library for the first time.”

Next month, the band release an EP featuring the talents of Oli and Rob Steadman from Oxford folk-pop band Stonoway.

“We love The Library,” she says. “It’s the coolest bar in Oxford. It’s friendly, there’s a great atmosphere there and it’s full of nice people who like music.

“No one takes themselves too seriously but have fun making good music. It’s also free – and there’s excellent Mexican food there too. It’s awesome.”

And what can we expect from her band? “Some serious groove in your body,” she laughs. “It’s entertaining, uplifting... and hopefully people will enjoy it!”

  • CHECK IT OUT: Rainbow Reservoir, Beta Blocker & The Body Clock and Telegrapher play Smash Disco at The Library, Cowley Road, Oxford, tonight. Entry is free