If The Doors came back as a modern-day 20-something quartet, managed to strip all the pretentiousness out of their lyrics, got a sharper sense of humor, drew a little more inspiration from classic Cosmic Country and also learned to add a little more rock guitar to their songs, they’d likely sound a lot like Color Green.
The Los Angeles-based psych-rock upstarts recently signed to New West Records and have turned in an impressive nine-song collection with Fool’s Parade, managing to sound both comfortingly nostalgic and refreshingly original at the same time. Part of the band’s charm is that they have four vocalists to rely on, making the album eclectically unique from song to song. The album opener, “Coronado,” an instant earworm, sounds like a different band that puts out the dreamy “Four Leaf Clover” or the electric folkie/swamp Country “When The Clouds Roll In.”
The common influence that seems to be weaved throughout here is Jerry Garcia, and I realize that one name can be a bit polarizing, but there is a hard-to-deny Grateful Dead/Garcia vibe here, especially on a song like the grief-heavy “5:08” (a solid track lyrically and emotionally, but one that doesn’t really represent the rest of the album well). “Kick The Bucket” is another mellow number, but it’s on songs like “God in A $,” where the band is able to really show off their musical abilities and play a far more compelling, raucous mix of influences.
Working with indie producer Mike Kriebel (Osees, Wand), the band brought in several guests for this one, including members of Osees and label mates the Nude Party. The album covers a slew of emotions, from grief and loss to confusion and frustration, and channels just as many influences and musical styles in just nine songs. The band still writes all their music together in the same room. “What we come up with together, I don’t think any of us could do by ourselves,” according to bassist and vocalist Kyla Perlmutter. “The music we make is always surprising me.”
