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Avg: 4.5 (85 ratings)
- Date Released: August 19, 2008
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Indie Rock
- Label: Quarterstick Records / Touch And Go
A gorgeous set of summery psychedelic pop to charm even the most stubbornly jaded soul.
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We Say...
Do you believe in magic? I'm not sure I do, either. But listening to the Uglysuit, six friends in their early 20s from Oklahoma City, you might start to believe in flying penguins, soaring seaships, clouds beneath your feet and happy yellow rainbows. The Uglysuit's self-titled album is that pretty, and that powerful. The music draws its inspiration from '60s psychedelia, '70s art rock, ageless fairytales, children's stories and Steven Spielberg's films (the short instrumental "Elliot Travels" is mood music for E.T. 26 years later). "Brownblue's Passing" kicks the set off, a hunk of gorgeousness Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks might have left off Smile. The rapturous harmonies on "Chicago" make that city seem like a shimmering Shangri-la, while "Everyone Now Has A Smile" suggests a satisfying collaboration between Donovan and the Moody Blues, alternating density and lightness with such agility that you can hardly hear the effort that went into it. Implausible as it seems, the potency and skill of that song and "Happy Yellow Rainbow," with their resonating melodies, random-seeming chord changes, daring tempo shifts and monster guitar and piano excursions, will wipe the smirk off your face and have you believing, as the Uglysuit does, in the power of music to set you free.
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They Say...
There's nothing unattractive about the Uglysuit's debut album, whose nine tracks veer between breezy indie pop, psychedelic folk, shoegaze, and flashes of laid-back math rock. That's an odd combination, to be sure, but the Uglysuit tackle those shifting time signatures without losing their mellow, a move that adds complexity while preserving the sunny California vibes these Midwesterners evoke so easily. Apart from such straightforward pop nuggets as "Chicago," many of the album's songs progress in movements, with "Everyone Now Has a Smile" (one of two seven-minute epics on the disc) shifting from ethereal piano arpeggios to a bouncing jam band breakdown. When the bandmates decide to really crank up the volume, as they do during the psych rock conclusion to "Happy Yellow Rainbow," the sound is more cathartic than jarring. It's difficult to carve one's own niche in the indie rock world -- the genre is already congested with countless niches, most of them quite similar to the next one -- but the Uglysuit have stumbled across something truly unique here. Alternately blissed-out and ragingly psychedelic, this debut is one of 2008's most promising records.
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You Say...
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| 01. |  |
Brownblue's Passing |
4:25 |  |
| 02. | |
Chicago |
3:57 | |
| 03. | |
Brad's House |
4:56 | |
| 04. | |
...And We Became Sunshine |
7:19 | |
| 05. | |
Elliot Travels |
1:19 | |
| 06. | |
Anthem of The Arctic Birds |
4:05 | |
| 07. | |
Everyone Now Has a Smile |
7:07 | |
| 08. | |
Happy Yellow Rainbow |
5:09 | |
| 09. | |
Let It Be Known |
5:48 | |
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- Colin Bray - Group Member // Matt Harrison - Group Member // Jonathan Martin - Group Member // Crosby Bray - Group Member // Israel Hindman - Group Member // Kyle Mayfield - Group Member
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