Album: Brilliant Colors - Introducing

Album: Introducing
Slumberland, 2009
Rating: ****** (6/10)

I have to say, the new album from Brilliant Colors, out today, was pretty disappointing. I'd heard a few promising songs and a few promising recommendations from other folks. Not that it's reasonable to expect much from a DIY, fuzzy indie pop band these days - you can hardly throw a rock without hitting one (though why you wouldn't want to hit one with a rock is a mystery to me).

San Fransisco's all-female trio Brilliant Colors is a late-comer to the movement, and though it's clear they want to be sorta punk, they are a pretty far cry from their real punk counterparts. That's not a huge surprise - after all, this album is on the indie pop label Slumberland, not one of its its punkier sisters like Siltbreeze, Woodsist or In the Red. It's ok to not be punk, but here, the lack of aggression makes the album kind of bland. There's certainly no flares of joy or sadness, let alone anger or mania.

The album isn't bad, and if you're into fuzzy little pop songs, it's not a bad addition to your collection. Most of the songs are well-written. Still, I'd rank this well below the Manhattan Love Suicides' Burnt Out Landscapes or even Cause Co-Motion's It's Time!, both like-minded releases. The one thing that makes Brilliant Colors slightly distinct from such peers is that the vocals draw a little more from ROCK'N'ROLL, rather thank punk. Most indie pop uses the basic Ramones model for melodies, but Brilliant Colors let loose more aaaah-eeeiy-aaah's and oooohwee's. That's a minuscule detail, though, barely worth noting.

Although the songs are all pretty similar, there are a few highlights. The awkward oooh's in "I Searched" and uh-ow's in "Short Sleeves at Night" are endearing and "Absolutely Anything" is an especially charming indie earworm. Things get a little heavier midway through, starting "Mystic," the album's most in-your-face moment. "Motherland" has a little bit of punch to it, too. The closing track, "Should I Tell You" is pretty normal except that it periodically sounds like a Boeing is taking off in the background. I can't figure out if that's a good thing or not.

For fans of the genre, you'll find some nice songs on Introducing, but if you're looking for something artistic, edgy or fresh, you'd be wasting your time. We've heard this before, better, many times.

[MySpace]

Thanks!!!

Hey, thanks for everyone who came out Saturday, it was a great night! And thanks especially to the bands, who played totally kickass sets. I'm not gonna review my own show, obviously, but I do want to mention that 28 Degrees Taurus finished (pre-encore) with the sickest version of "Crash and Burn" imaginable.

And one last time, thanks so much to our hosts at McKibben for letting us use their space and helping us promote the show. And to Vanishing Point, who were generous with their equipment and time - these guys rock and everyone should check them out and go to the shows they put on around town.


Here's the annotated playlist, if anyone is interested:

I Believe - Skywave

Flying - Telescopes

It's You - Heavenly

Stomach Worm (Stereolab) - It Hugs Back

A Great Divide - Parts and Labor

No Fun - Lovvers

See/Saw - Jay Reatard

Useless Inventions - Guided by Voices

The Year without a Summer - Coltrane Motion

[^This is my new favorite shameless pop band, only recently heard them for the first time.]

Everyone Knows Everyone - The Helio Sequence

[^I may have got a little carried away with the pop thing.]

I'm Ok You're Ok - Let's Wrestle

Starrsha - Ringo Deathstarr

[The best shoegaze band of its/our generation]

Glue - Sisters

[^Since reviewing this band, it's really sunk in that they are one of New York's most promising new bands. Delightfully minimalist poppy garage rock.]

Teenage Super Party - Wavves

Clusterfuck - The Manhattan Love Suicides

[^The MLS are every shoegaze/noise pop/indie pop DJ's dream. Dozens of perfect pop songs clocking in at well under three minutes.]

How Will the Others Survive? - Tears Run Rings

[^The second best new/contemporary shoegaze band, after Ringo Deathstarr.]

See You Shine - Alcian Blue

[[Gracefully]]

Soft as Snow (But Warm Inside) - My Bloody Valentine

Like Flowers at Night - Panda Riot

Sweet Girl - Ringo Deathstarr

Love Is a Wave - Crystal Stilts

Sky Ghosts - Depreciation Guild

One Plus One Equals Three Or More - Mahogany

Here Should Be My Home - No Age

Death Ray - The Brother Kite

Come Saturday - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Way Too High - Secret Shine

My Aquarium - Drop Nineteens

A Silent Tide - Flying Saucer Attack

[[Ifwhen]]

My Weakness - A Place to Bury Strangers

Why Don't We Do It in the Road - Lydia Lunch

Cigarette in Your Bed - My Bloody Valentine

Fever - Screen Vinyl Image

Teen Angst - M83

So Long - Brief Candles

Supervitesse (Robin Guthrie remix) - Mahogany

Sunday Night - Ren

Sweet Abyss - Ecstasy of Saint Theresa

Detroit Diesel - The Manhattan Love Suicides

Noise-Bleeding Girl - Werewolves

[^Werewolves helped set up this show, but I didn't play their song to pay them back, I played it because they are awesome.]

Swallow - My Bloody Valentine

[[28 Degrees Taurus]]

Somehow my playlist got changed around after the show, I think. Which is fine, it wasn't really a great playlist to start with. (To be totally honest, I snuck out during 28 Degrees Taurus's encore, so I'm not sure what happened.) Based on my "last played" list, this is what was played:

Tak! Attack! - Black Affair

Bomb the Surf - The Vandelles

Pleasure and Pain - Soundpool

What New York Used to Be - The Kills

First Communion - Gang Gang Dance

Missing You - A Place to Bury Strangers

Balloons - Foals

You Can't Be Funky - Bush Tetras

Darklooming - The Depreciation Guild

...and after that, I don't know what happened, as that's as far as the "last played" list goes. VP said they had to leave, so I guess this is when they did so and took my laptop with.

Best Albums of 2008 - Part 3 - #15-11

Here's the third installment...

PREVIOUS>>
Part 1 - Rules and Runners Up
Part 2 - #20-16


#15

Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed
Wichita Recordings / Arts & Crafts

This band surprised everyone by releasing two full albums in 2008, both of them gold. We Are Beautiful, the second of the two, curbs some of the manic pop expressions of the first and shows the band's more mature and steady side. In slowing things down, they bump up against a few more indie rock cliches, but the album is still beautifully crafted. Their richly-orchestrated pop and youthful, emotional vocals combine to make this one of the best albums of the year.

Track pick: "We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed"
MySpace


#14

The Kills - Midnight Boom
Domino Records

"Sexy" is the adjective of choice in describing this album, and it's entirely deserved. Midnight Boom is an indie rock album, but it has the meticulous production of electronica/dance and the catchy beats to match. Delivered with confidence, the songs are hip and fun, but not without their tender moments. It's album of contradictions - down-to-earth but smart, gritty but polished, sophisticated but accessible - and it doesn't sound like anything else in 2008.

Track pick: "U.R.A. Fever"
MySpace


#13

Wye Oak - If Children
Merge Records

This duo won me over when I saw them live a few weeks ago. While they intially come off as gentle and folky, Wye Oak can crank it up too. The result, so far, is this gorgeous debut (originally released before 2008 but re-released on Merge Records to a much wider audience this year). Its noise-folk ranges from homey, comforting acoustic numbers to towering cliffs of sound. Each composition is well-conceived and over it all, both members deliver some of the year's best lyrics. (If you can listen to "If Children Were Wishes" without crying, you probably have no soul.)

Track pick: "Family Glue"
MySpace


#12

Tears Run Rings - Always, Sometimes, Seldom, Never
Clairecords

I said this album might not be in the top "dozen or so" albums of the year, but that was before I'd listened to all the competition. On this dazzling debut, TRR have matched and even surpassed the quality of most their early 90's shoegaze influences. Always, Sometimes is nothing revolutionary, but anything that can stand on a level with best of Pale Saints or Slowdive is worth serious attention. For those not familiar with these bands, imagine a series of shimmering soundscapes and entrancing melodies so rich that they seem to build another world around you, a dense forest of sound blanketed in somber beauty. This is nothing but pure shoegaze heaven.

Track pick: "Fall Into Light"
MySpace


#11

The Manhattan Love Suicides - Burnt Out Landscapes
Squirrel Records/Magic Marker Records

This collection of EPs, singles, radio sessions and other rarities is so packed with music that it clocks in only seconds short of the 80-minute mark. And astoundingly, almost all of the album's 27 songs are pop gems in their own right. Massive feedback and distortion drench the entire record, but the songs themselves are tightly-constructed two-minute catchy pop numbers reminscent of classics like the Beach Boys. The MLS are far from the first band to use this template, but they are one of the best in recent years, never wavering as they churn out one bright melody after another.

Track pick: "Johnny Boy," "Keep It Coming" or really any of them. They're all good.
MySpace


NEXT>> Part 4: #10-6
Part 5: #5-1