Who needs a guitar when cheap keyboards will do the trick? In a scene largely dominated by guitars, it’s nice to see some bands eschewing string instruments for their keyed counterparts.

No Paws No Lions waste no time crafting the catchiest, most propulsive tunes to emanate from the Riverside area with nothing more than voice, keyboard, and drums. “I’ve Always Been Content Laughing and Lying in the Fields of Banning” is easily one of the best pop songs to take place over a mere minute and a half in my memory, distilling some of the best moments of The Unicorns and fellow progenitors of equatorial funcore. If the wastelands of Banning can produce such joyous sounds as these, then maybe Stagecoach Town USA isn’t so bad after all.

Download “I’ve Always Been Content Laughing and Lying in the Fields of Banning” at No Paws Myspace page (myspace.com/nopaws) and listen in to KUCR to hear future material from these local wunderkinds.