Jul. 19, 2011
The San Fransisco trio Brilliant Colors release their second album Again and Again today through Slumberland and if you liked their first record, you're going to love this one. Introducing was a fine record, full of noisy and hooky reverb pop, but this new record is a step forward. Tighter, catchier and more powerful sounding, the trio really go for it, pumping each song full of energy and a fiery melancholy that sets them apart from the scores of aimless, beachy bands who have the reverb, but not the songs or sense of purpose. We asked the group's singer and guitarist Jess Scott for a short list of things she's been digging lately....(First, a link to the video for the Brilliant Colors song "Round Your Way": )
1. NUTS! fanzine, olympia washington.
this is my favorite thing to read right now. ben trogden + friends in olympia have been putting out some of the best interviews, restaurant reviews, record reviews, drawings, doodles, photos, etc. etc. on luxurious newsprint broadsheet for years now. super cheap + the last issue even came with the newly resurrected flexi disc. blowing minds with issues containing SEX/VID, GUN OUTFIT, MILK MUSIC, BROKEN WATER, NODZZZ, THE SPITS, HPP, etc etc etc and even BRILLIANT COLORS with a pull out centerfold chilling in austin, texas. mail a pile of cash to: nuts! fanzine c/o ben trogden PO Box 7302 / Olympia, WA 98507.
2. NOSE DIVE demo tape, Tape It To The Limit!
putting this tape in this “top 5” is literally the most work I have ever done for my so-called cassette tape label…now snoozing on its like fourth year? I woke from my summer cat nap to put out this raging hardcore tape by my friends who also partake in running make-a-mess records, mondo vision punk video zine, and playing in brilliant colors, rank/Xerox, livid, jump off a building, etc etc etc. I just need to make the sleeves and then it’ll be up, at cost on www.tapeittothelimit.blogspot.com
3. SWIFTUMZ - “Don’t Trip” LP on Holy Mountain
this is my friend chris’ band. I’ve heard almost all the tracks in a million different versions and demos and happy to see it all coalesce as record due out this summer on Holy Mountain. This record is going to melt turntables…this is lush Orbisonian pop played through a fucked up amplifier from fifty years into the future. Will freak minds, shake souls, inspire weirdos everywhere! Excited for his live debut at our upcoming record release show!
4. THE PHEROMOANS - “it still rankles” LP
must get it! the only in-print record I’ve spent over $15 on in recent memory. taking the torch up from the Fall and the Swell Maps and splashing around in the kiddie pool for a laugh. I’ve seen it recently distro’d through Sacred Bones, and it might be a hair cheaper there than Convulsive—lord knows why it’s so steep. maybe they thought the dudes couldn’t do maths from dollars to pounds. seriously, get your grabby fingers on these damaged rantings! stock up on stationary too; you’ll be writing them fan mail before you even flip to the B-side.
5. THE PROPER ORNAMENTS - “recalling” 7” on make-a-mess records
maybe it’s because this band is from England and haven’t really toured yet, but this group is going to womp everyone over the back of the head once word gets around. this 7” is like the warning-shot. the proper ornaments see through the crusty haze of self-congratulatory “indie” pop and commit themselves to truly bedroom pop that sends chills on summer day. They have a dozen more hits that I can’t wait to have all for myself on wax! james runs germs of youth records and contributes more genius to the acclaimed VERONICA FALLS and SEXY KIDS. www.makeamessrecords.bigcartel.com