Review Summary: sick of playing all your little games
I like to compare this current batch of up-and-rising indie pop acts to football players; sometimes, the best talent goes relatively unnoticed by the public until they get a chance to shine (seventh round picks Donald Driver and Marques Colston come to mind), while a select few big names end up throwing all their buzz and hype away with consistently lackluster performances. While it may seem absurd to compare American Authors to JaMarcus Russell, the indie pop genre is one where most of the popular acts end up being the worst representation of its quality as a whole. If the only songs that you’ve heard from them are the ones that get frequent radio airplay, you’re missing out on a lot of quality music. From the woefully unoriginal to the creatively infectious, the indie pop spectrum covers a wide range of artists, and stuck in the middle are The Colourist.
The Colourist seem like a band that I
should loathe with each and every breath I take – its generic sound, overpolished hooks and clichéd lyrics seem like a recipe for disaster. However, they shine amongst their contemporaries by actually writing catchy hooks, something that can’t be said for lots of other indie pop acts. The album’s lead single “Little Games” is the best example of the band’s songwriting at its best – its infectious hook driven by the harmonization between vocalists Adam Castilla and Maya Tuttle is what makes the song so memorable. Clocking in at a little less than three minutes, “Little Games” doesn’t overstay its welcome nor does it get tiring after the first few listens. It’s the perfect definition of a summer song, breezy and catchy enough for the hottest season.
The Colourist’s mantra is nothing short of bouncy and upbeat; almost all of the album’s songs are filled with youthful spirit. While this gives tracks like “Tonight (Young Hearts)” and “We Won’t Go Home” a much needed energy boost, the band’s sound does get repetitive and tiring after the first few tracks. “Stray Away” offers a nice change of pace – its acoustic, stripped-down arrangement gives Castilla’s vocals a more emotional sheen. His harmonization with Tuttle creates an intimate setting that complements the lyrical content well, and electric guitars sweep in during the track’s climax. Lyrically, the album falters as almost all of its songs deal with teenage love and adolescent feelings of romance, and repetitivity plagues them at times. In fact, I’ve created a drinking game to test the quality of The Colourist’s lyrics. In the song “Oh Goodbye”, take a shot whenever the titular phrase is sung, and the last person with a fully functioning liver wins (Disclaimer: playing this game in real life will surely result in death from alcohol poisoning).
If anything, the main drawback to
The Colourist is a lack of variation – the band’s brand of jangly, upbeat indie pop turns stale after the first five songs. “Stray Away” is strategically sandwiched in between all of the monotonousness; had it been placed any further away from the center, the consecutive streak of banal indie pop jams would have to been to long to tolerate. Even if the closer “Put the Fire Out” comes off as a bit more rock-driven, it’s not enough to save
The Colourist from its mundane tendencies. It doesn’t help that most of the album’s tracks sound alike, and because of this, most of the songs in the album’s back half come off as nothing more than inferior copies of highlights like “Little Games” and “We Won’t Go Home”.
Although The Colourist specialize in generic, sappy indie pop, they managed not to earn my ire because they can be incredibly catchy at times - I've had some fun blasting "Little Games" and its infectious hook in the safe secure area of my bedroom, along with the touching "Stray Away" and cheery "Wishing Well". Still, their brand of breezy "math pop" can only stay fresh for so long. With only eleven tracks,
The Colourist seems a lot longer than it actually is, mainly due to the lack of deviation in the band's songwriting formula. One acoustic ballad isn't enough to show a different side of the band, and it shows. If American Authors are the JaMarcus Russell of indie pop, a big name that soon proved not to be worth the hype, then The Colourist are more of a Tavon Austin, a promising young talent with potential that can either shine or disappoint on their second season.
