The Anderson Council are new to me, but have actually been around for 20 years. They are very good and well worth the time to get into.

Peter Horvath, the leader of the band, was kind enough to answer a few questions for me.

Andrea Weiss: For everyone who knows who you are, there is someone who doesn't, so could you give us a brief history of the band?

Peter Horvath: I started the band in 1999 after my last band disintegrated(which was my doing…) The whole point of it was to celebrate my love for 60s pop music, just as psychedelic music was turning from a fun thing(with short concise songs that featured all kinds of kitchen sink craziness stuffed into two and a half minutes) into a spaced out, meandering thing that didn’t really interest me.

AW: Who are your influences?

PH: All those bands that put out two really great singles that didn’t hit the charts, never to be heard from again, at least until they turned in their purple corduroy pants and frilly shirts, bought some denim, and tried their hand at playing blues numbers. Oh, and the greats of the period and afterwards.

AW: There are a lot of English places and things mentioned in your songs. Are you anglophiles, or just people who like England?

PH: Amusingly, I have never stepped foot off of the North American continent, but damn if I don’t watch a lot of English TV shows and movies, and read period books! I suppose I need to get there at some point!

AW: Your songs are so positive and happy, which I like. They also sound effortless. Is that easy to do?

PH: I’ve written my share of sad and/or angry songs, but when I started writing these songs, I knew that they would be for an entirely different band. I suppose the songs sound effortless, as you say, because we rehearse a lot! It also helps that I tend to have a clear cut idea of what the song should sound like when I write it (or co-write it, in the case of all the songs on the new album). The guys in the band put their magic in there as well, of course. We are a band, after all!

AW: How would you describe your sound? Your songs rock with guitars. Would you say that’s an alternative to the current mainstream?

PH: I call us Psychpowerpop. I don’t really know what constitutes the term, but we like hooks, we like weird twists and turns, and we like songs, most of all. I don’t necessarily listen to a lot of current music, but if there’s a song in there, I’m in, whatever genre it happens to be.

AW: I like your adult take on love, like in “Buying A House.” Would you also say that’s an alternative?

PH: An alternative to what? Ha. I guess as you get older, you think less about sex, and more about doing laundry and the dishes? Ha again.

AW: Any plans to tour?

PH: We play shows whenever and wherever we can. Unfortunately, touring isn’t exactly feasible and/or practical at this juncture, so the shows we get are the ones we play. Don’t get me wrong, if you’re paying, we’re touring!