Brilliant Colors, Introducing - Music Review

Posted on 08. Dec, 2009 by Administrator in Music

Brilliant Colors’ debut album packs in the kind of lo-fi and melodic garage pop that one would expect from a band that’s shared the stage with similar-minded Bay Area bands like Nodzzz and Grass Widow. Introducing is 24 minutes of buzzing guitar and hook-laden vocals, channeling The Shop Assistants, The Runaways and yes, the Vivian Girls. More “C86” – era UK pop than punk, the songs all ramble along with lightly-distorted, jangly guitar and twee melody, although there’s still an abrasive edge that propels the album forward. Mid-tempo opener “I Searched” sets the template with dreamy, layered vocal harmonies and rudimentary guitar playing before the next track, “Absolutely Anything”, cuts through with an instantly infectious verse melody and a Riot-Grrrl-worthy chorus. Other stand-out tracks include the playful “Short Sleeves at Night” and The Slits-inspired “Motherland”. While there’s nothing groundbreaking or exactly new about Introducing, it reveals Brilliant Colors to be a band capable of writing an album’s worth of near-perfect pop songs. And, at only 24 minutes, the album comes in at just the right amount of time before it begins to feel repetitive.

Good For: Only having 24 minutes on the subway, dancing with wigs, Crispin Glover’s boot-collection documentary.

Bad For: Being trapped for 84 minutes on the subway with Crispin Glover after eating Taco Bell.

–Bill Dvorak

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