It's hard to pigeonhole Fitz & the Tantrums

July 13, 2016 at 12:05a.m.

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. However, don’t tell that to Fitz & The Tantrums. The group is on a mission to set the record straight.

“It’s funny we got tagged early on as a Motown retro band, which is interesting because that’s really not how we ever saw ourselves, although I can understand why people thought that,” said Fitz & The Tantrums keyboardist Jeremy Ruzumna, calling from Los Angeles.

“I think a lot of what that comes from is the production. Our first album was very DIY. We did it in (singer Michael) Fitzpatrick’s living room with an out-of-tune piano and weird old organ. We sort of limited the sound of that album.”

That project is the band’s 2010 debut, “Pickin’ Up the Pieces,” which not only made the group a critical darling act but included single “MoneyGrabber.” The catchy Top 40 tune featured a heavy Motown vibe.

From there, the group’s follow-up “More Than Just a Dream” painted the outfit in a different light. The album produced No. 1 alternative singles “Out of My League” and “The Walker.”

“On ‘More Than Just a Dream,’ I’d say that we got into a sound that was even more true to what we were or where we came from musically,” Ruzumna said. “That was a big thing because a lot of people were like, ‘Hey, where’s the retro Motown sound? Why are you guys trying to sound like a new wave band?’”

The keyboardist admits if he was forced to pigeonhole the Fitz & The Tantrums genre, it would be indie-soul-pop. At least that’s the goal the band had in mind when it came time to record its third album.

The new effort includes lead single “HandClap,” which went top 5 on the alternative chart.

“I think most of this record is a digression,” Ruzumna said. “‘HandClap’ production-wise is a great distance from stuff we’ve done in the past. Still, the glue that holds it all together is you still have vocals from Fitz and Noelle Scaggs, as well as the musicians in the band.”

Fitz fans can hear the new material when the group comes to Stage AE in Pittsburgh for a Thursday show.