ReadabilityThe Color Wheels - The Color Wheels
The Color Wheels
The Color Wheels
Viper Bite; 2008
I love a cute romantic story as much as the next sensitive guy, but I prefer mine with a bit more realism. The reason that Love Actually is such a hit with my generation isn’t because we like seeing the faces of über-attractive British cast on screen; it’s because there’s an everyday weight and depth to it all (outside of Liam Neeson’s son running willy-nilly through Heathrow to talk to his grade school sweetie). The story doesn’t always end up with the lovers frolicking in a grassy field; so go ahead and paint me a little grey and jaded when I digest the music of The Color Wheels. This husband-and-wife duo found its start when Psalm Sebastian asked her husband Jon (of Paper The Operator) to teach her how to play the drums.
(Cue up the “Awww… That’s so sweet and cute!” sound effect for my female readers.)
What resulted is a sprightly bunch of pop tunes – some are emo, a couple of them aspire to be faux twee, and most are straight-up power-pop – about all manner of things domestic, culled from Jon’s surroundings as he wrote songs that he and his wife could play together as she started drumming. Don’t get me wrong, as I’m really not an unromantic jerk; there is something undeniably attractive and appealing about the innocence on display with this record, especially since Jon is quite adept at writing clean pop songs. But maybe I’m used to darker, deeper twists and turns driving my pop music, because as pretty as a Belle & Sebastian track might sound, there’s usually an thick undercurrent of irony and cynicism present. The Color Wheels, despite their smart and bubbly songs about camping trips, playing house, and pirate ships, simply don’t do it for this reviewer: I like a bit of sad mixed in with my happy, some salt to balance out all of that sugar.
The Color Wheels
The Color Wheels
Viper Bite; 2008
I love a cute romantic story as much as the next sensitive guy, but I prefer mine with a bit more realism. The reason that Love Actually is such a hit with my generation isn’t because we like seeing the faces of uber-attractive British cast on screen; it’s because there’s an everyday weight and depth to it all (outside of Liam Neeson’s son running willy-nilly through Heathrow to talk to his grade school sweetie). The story doesn’t always end up with the lovers frolicking in a grassy field; so go ahead and paint me a little grey and jaded when I digest the music of The Color Wheels. This husband-and-wife duo found its start when Psalm Sebastian asked her husband Jon (of Paper The Operator) to teach her how to play the drums.
(Cue up the “Awww… That’s so sweet and cute!” sound effect for my female readers.)
What resulted is a sprightly bunch of pop tunes – some are emo, a couple of them aspire to be faux twee, and most are straight-up power-pop – about all manner of things domestic, culled from Jon’s surroundings as he wrote songs that he and his wife could play together as she started drumming. Don’t get me wrong, as I’m really not an unromantic jerk; there is something undeniably attractive and appealing about the innocence on display with this record, especially since Jon is quite adept at writing clean pop songs. But maybe I’m used to darker, deeper twists and turns driving my pop music, because as pretty as a Belle & Sebastian track might sound, there’s usually an thick undercurrent of irony and cynicism present. The Color Wheels, despite their smart and bubbly songs about camping trips, playing house, and pirate ships, simply don’t do it for this reviewer: I like a bit of sad mixed in with my happy, some salt to balance out all of that sugar.
