Hit Pick

Just because each one of the guys in Tinker’s Punishment, Wednesday, November 22, at the Soiled Dove, is just about as cute as a button, dont write them off as just another Backstreet Boys-like boy band. With the release of If This Cant Last Forever — a CD thats filled to the brim with catchy, melodic and lyrically courageous original tunes — Tinkers has established itself as a local rock band to be reckoned with, even if the average age of its players is a fresh-faced 21. The bands success is due largely to multi-talented lead singer, guitarist and songwriter Mike Robinson: Musically mature beyond his years, Robinson enthralls not only with his vocals, but also in the earnest way that he delivers his music — you can see on his face that hes there to play. With influences that include Better Than Ezra, Radiohead and Counting Crows, Tinkers is currently shopping a six-song CD to music moguls in Los Angeles, and the band has recently played in Nevada, Nebraska, Iowa and Arizona. At this pre-Turkey Day show, the guys headline with the equally youthful folkie chanteuse Liz Clark as the opening act. Such a lineup suggests that kids these days may not be so bad afterall.