So I have this friend who is pretty much the indie rock grinch. You can throw on the newest.freshest.latest and he’s all BAH! INDIE BY NUMBERS!! Off with its head! It’s a battle you can’t really win. If he hears so much as a hand clap, a trace of irony, or god help you, whistling – it’s over. Enter exceedingly indie, uber DIY, outer-borough band (specifically: Brooklyn, Queens): Takka Takka. Hand clapping? Oh yeah. Whistling? Totally. Irony? Much. And they’ve got a country twang that’s not living in Mississippi. They are the arch nemesis of my hater friend. But that is his issue, not mine. Despite some musical tics that might seem a bit obvious, there’s just something about these boys that resounds with me. It’s a kind of clapping that I can get down with clapping along with. And who doesn’t like something catchy to whistle along with. Indie by numbers, it’s possible, but Takka Takka are also doling out some solid, catchy pop too. And after forming a veritable trifecta of oddness when they joined forces with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Architecture in Helsinki for a recent tour, the proof is in the pudding – silly/weird/random can be some good stuff.