Cold Colors

Album review

The Cold Colors EP was released by Polyvinyl, but based on its experimental leanings, it sounds like Saturday Looks Good to Me is ready to make the leap to K Records. Instead of the band's expected so-retro-it's-modern indie pop, the delicate acoustic guitars and found sounds on "Illuminated Circles Dream of Backwards Running Vampires" and the title track have more in common with the free-floating symphonic folk of K alums the Microphones. Most of Cold Colors was recorded in Portland, OR, and the EP has a chilly, pastoral feel that sounds like late winter melting into early spring. It also sounds far more like Fred Thomas' solo albums than any of Saturday Looks Good to Me's previous work, especially on "Drink My Blood," which pairs ink and blood imagery with a singalong melody. That gift for melodies that sound instantly familiar shines throughout Cold Colors, and especially brightly on "Idiots"' sneering hooks. The EP ends with its most ambitious song, "Spiderbite": recorded at Warn Defever's Brown Rice studio, it moves from moody chamber folk to droning guitars and sound effects to a final percussive workout. Cold Colors might be one of Saturday Looks Good to Me's most subtle and subdued works, but it shows that Fred Thomas and crew are just as good at crafting haunting moods as they are with bright, winsome pop.

© Heather Phares /TiVo