Now Brilliant Colors team up again with The Pool’s Alex Yusimov (who recorded their first album as well as Grass Widow and many of Portland’s finest indie bands) to create 'Again and Again', a great step forward for the band. The songwriting is still as infectious as ever, but the tunes are now more carefully arranged, pushing the band far beyond their punk roots to something as elemental as pop gets. Songs like opener “Hey Dan,” the sprightly “Value Lines” and “Hitting Traffic” combine guitarist / singer Jess Scott’s catchy-as-hell riffs with Diane Anastasio’s steady, rolling beats and Michelle Hill’s dense basslines. Their well fashioned songs are deceptively simple—straightforwardly rocking but also richly layered, revealing new twists on each listen.
The mood is confessional and late-night dreamy; Scott’s unadorned vocals and eloquent lyrics are personal, direct and atmospherically deployed, mixed in with the songs like another instrument. They can be heard to great effect on tougher songs like “Back to the Tricks” and “Painting Truths,” tempering those tunes’ punchy punk dynamics with their melodic sensibility. Add in classic-sounding stormers like “Cult Face” and “How Much Younger” and one has all the makings of another great Brilliant Colors album, one that shows how finely they’ve honed their own unique brand of punk-informed crash-pop.
STAFF COMMENTS
Darryl says: Jangly and cute C86 infused indie-pop, that'll hit the mark for fans of Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Cystal Stilts et al. On the US label Slumberland.TRACK LISTING
01. Hey Dan
02. How Much Younger
03. Value Lines
04. Round Your Way
05. Back To The Tricks
06. Cult Face
07. Painting Truths
08. Hitting Traffic
09. Telephone Stories
10. L.A.’s