Clocking in at just under 23 minutes, Introducing, Brilliant Colors’ 2009 debut, flits by like a will-o’-the-wisp. It’s just enough time to get a decent impression of what the band has to offer: refreshingly raw yet smart indie pop, reminiscent of old-school New Zealand indie pop acts (the Chills, the Bats) and the puckish side of C-86 (Talulah Gosh). At their strongest, Brilliant Colors are gutsy and tender, nocturnal and innocent — a spine-tingling blend of pop-oriented fizz and punk-influenced grit. At their weakest, they are oddly forgettable; there really isn’t one memorable track on Introducing, and it’s puzzling. “I Searched,” for example, seems to have all the makings of a single-worthy track — it’s just the right blend of needling guitars, warm reverb, and lead singer Jess Scott’s primal croon. But the second this song seems to really get cooking, it comes to a halt — and it does so well under the two-minute mark, too, making it more of a jingle or a theme song than anything else. In this way, Introducing does just what its name implies — it’s a tantalizingly brief, not quite fully realized sample of what Brilliant Colors have to offer. And for this reason alone it can hardly be called required listening for fans of this genre, especially when there are a number of likeminded bands out there doing a better job (Liechtenstein, Je Suis Animal, and Betty and the Werewolves are all good examples). That said, Introducing is strong enough to qualify Brilliant Colors as one of those bands to keep an eye on. – Margaret Reges