Review Summary: Decent Indie Band that doesn't quite outshine it's contemporaries of the time is was born...
For every band with a ravenous fan base that will eat up anything, they do (IE: Brand New, Modest Mouse, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Mountain Goats.) There are bands that fall between the cracks of history that only a few select people know about. Ladies and gentleman may I introduce; Nothing Painted Blue.
Peter Hughes is most well known for being The Mountain Goats bassist and backing vocalist. However, Nothing Painted Blue is a different beast entirely. While being far less folk focused and generally more polished and diverse musically. Peter's band has faded into obscurity but was that for good reason? Well, yes, and no...
It's not THAT hard to determine why the band was lost to time. Perhaps the indie explosion of the '90s and there were arguably more talented and interesting bands to listen to around that time that had a similar sound. Don Emery Mystery Band experienced a similar issue. While neither band is bad at all. I definitely can't see myself picking this over something like The Lonesome Crowdest West...
I'll give you an example of some of the most stand out tracks on the album...
"In May I" one of the catchier songs on the album has some pretty interesting guitar going on. Some delicate picking from an acoustic, some electric skippy notes, while the delicate acoustic picking turns to full-on power chords, with some serviceable drums and soulful vocals it's one of the more stand-out tracks on the entire album.
"Masonic Eye" has some very interesting lyrics to boot, with some very strong songwriting. Near the middle of the song the band just explodes into a loud wall of noise and really let it all hang out. Another stand out track.
"Ball Walker" more skipping guitar with a kind of groovy-funk bass line that reminds me of the RHCP. Really groove oriented song that gets a lot faster towards the middle mark with some guitar shredding and feedback noise. Pure indie bliss.
While the entire album is pretty decent, these three songs were the most stand out to me, if you are going to check out this band start with these songs. 3 of 5...
