On August 19th, prepare yourself for the debut of an explosive young band from Los Angeles that is bound to capture the hearts and ears of several generations. With their mix of upbeat music and clean cut good looks, "Kara's Flowers" will remind you of another young foursome from Liverpool in the 60's. Although their sound is distinctly their own, an underlying "Beatles" influence can be heard on their debut album, "The Fourth World."

I had a chance to talk to Drummer and Percussionist, Ryan Dusick, while they were filming the video for the first single from the album, "Soap Disco." It took a few phone calls, but I finally got the lowdown on the band, how it came to be and how it got it's name. These four young men from Los Angeles, Mickey Madden - Bass, born in Texas but raised in L.A., Adam Levine - Lead Vocals and Guitar, from Santa Monica, Jesse Carmichael - Guitar and Background Vocals, from Malibu, and Ryan from Brentwood, got together in various combinations while still in grade school. Mickey, Adam and Jesse are recent graduates of Brentwood High School, while Ryan has just finished his second year at U.C.L.A.

It seems Ryan and Adam knew each other when they were quite a bit younger, introduced by a mutual family friend. They even put their own band together, "little kids fooling around, and having lots of fun" as Ryan put it, when Adam was 10 and Ryan was 12. Ryan lost touch with Adam for a while, until they met up again at Brentwood High School. In the mean time, Adam met Mickey and Jesse in Jr. High and started playing in a band with them. At the same time, Ryan was playing in a different band with some older guys. When they graduated, Ryan started playing with Adam, Jesse, Mickey and some other kids.

In late 1993, the four of them were playing together in the School Band, Adam and Ryan were in the School Orchestra, and they all belonged to "The Brentwood Pep Band." In the "Pep Band," they would put concerts together, playing a lot of covers (Pearl Jam, etc.), out on the field during lunch break. According to Ryan, "Then we just started running amuck! Playing anything we knew and just going crazy. In the process, we discovered the four of us had a lot of chemistry playing together."

Adam, Jesse and Mickey already had a band with a different drummer and guitar player. But Ryan knew Adam, and knew he could play, and wanted to form a new band. They started jamming without knowing who else would be in the band, but since Adam was already with Jesse and Mickey, he introduced Ryan to them, and one fateful evening they got together, became really good friends, and the rest is history.

That fateful evening is where the name "Kara's Flowers" comes from. It seems the four guys were trying to deliver flowers to their friend Kara for her birthday. They spent hours looking for her house because they didn't know exactly where it was, and in the mean time it became a big bonding experience for Ryan with the rest of the guys. The flowers were never delivered, but "Kara's Flowers" became a band. With Adam, sometimes collaborating with Jesse, writing the songs, they ended up playing at a High School gig where Rob Cavallo, Producer at Reprise Records, caught their act and wanted to sign them on the spot.

The path to the record contract was a bit more complicated than getting signed to Reprise at the High School gig, but after hiring an agent, an attorney, an agency (where they were advised they could be introduced to several labels, and that they should really choose one from the West Coast), and getting their already recorded songs back from the Independent Producer who worked with them, they decided that Rob Cavallo was the best Producer they could ask for, and eventually did sign with Reprise.

Their debut album with Reprise, "The Fourth World," has a great mix of songs both fast and slow, and on one track, "Oliver," you'd swear you were listening to the "Fab Four." Ryan assured me they're not trying to be the "Beatles," and although they had a big influence on "Kara's Flowers," they're really not that close in their style. After you listen to the album a few times, the influence is apparent, but "Kara's Flowers" definitely does have their own style - and a very enjoyable one!

The opening track, and first single, on the album is "Soap Disco," an upbeat number with a great melody line, simple beat and these opening lyrics "The sound was getting old/But Disco's back or so I'm told/But we've got nothing here/Except a tired set of ears/And we say Hey Mama/I'm something/Check it out/See what it's all about/'Cause this is Soap Disco/So charming/See the point from a different point of view. . ." and that's exactly what this album does. Tired of so many gloom and doom bands around, "Kara's Flowers" decided to take a different approach. Look at the positive side of things instead of the negative. "Future Kid" is a mellow number with some great harmonies and simple, but effective, instrumentals.

"Myself" has a clever instrumental and melody line and basically tells all the doomsayers to get lost. The chorus "I can't find a thing to be sad about/They say I'm doomed but I feel fine," just about says it all. "Oliver," another really upbeat number, has one section that you would swear came right out an of early 60's "Beatles" tune, but the rest of the song definitely has 90's written all over it. The song also has great harmonies and a catchy tune. "The Never Saga" slows things down a bit, with clever background vocals, a symphonic sound, and a sympathetic lyrical theme. Picking things up again quite a bit is "Loving The Small Time," a fast song showcasing harmonies, instrumentals and "Kara's Flowers" talent for writing an upbeat sound.

A slow, sweet, pop ballad, "To Her With Love," is next up, with only acoustic accompaniment, followed by "Sleepy Windbreaker," a song with a bit of an experimental sound to it in both keyboards and guitar in the intro, then moves into another up tempo song. "Pantry Queen," a rock ballad with some pace changes and interesting lyrics and harmonies, leads into "My Ocean Blue." This song is another that reflects a little bit of that "Beatles" influence, with a tricky little beat and pace changes thrown in for good measure. The final track on the album, "Captain Splendid," makes great use of instrumentals. This is also a ballad with some serious lyrics.

All in all, this is really a great debut album, and if you'd like to listen to some excellent pop music that's actually happy for the most part, you'll definitely like "The Fourth World." I think this band is going to go far, and I highly recommend their album.