The Color Bars Live

How about a video already? OK here’s a good one of The Color Bars live at The Tractor Tavern earlier this summer performing “Id Incinerator.”



And since I’ve been so negligent of late here’s another – The Color Bars performing “Pretty Krinkled” from the same show. Check out The Color Bars in person this Saturday at High Dive.

Recommended shows for the week of 6/1/08

Sunday the 1st:
Elba/The Quit/Another Perfect Crime at The Sunset Tavern

Tuesday the 3rd:
Lushy/The Bug Nasties at Nectar

Wednesday the 4th:
The Color Bars/Mouseheart Factor at High Dive

Andy Werth/The Capillaries at The Sunset

Thursday the 5th:
Friday Mile/Two Sheds/The Dimes at Nectar

Friday the 6th:
The Submarines/Bad Dream Good Breakfast/The Color Bars at Chop Suey

Half Light/The Purrs/Jones Family Fortune/Delusions at The Comet

Thee Sgt Major/Head/Coconut Coolouts at Funhouse

Saturday the 7th:
Brent Amaker & The Radio/Mass Sugar/The Riffbrokers at Skylark

The Sinister Six/The Small Change/DJ Chrispo/DJ Gort/DJ Vodka Twist/Tangerine Tonic at Lo-Fi Gallery

Recommended shows for the week of 5/25/08

Tuesday the 27th:
The Color Bars at ToST

Wednesday the 28th:
TIG Presents: The Long Blondes/17th Chapter/Ms Led at Neumo's

Thursday the 29th:
The Color Bars/The Birthdays/The Little Penguins/The Webelos at The Sunset Tavern

Friday the 30th:
Black Eyes & Neckties/Das Llamas/The Fucking Eagles/the Hacks at The Funhouse

Recommended shows for the week of 4/20/08

Monday the 21st:
Mexican UFO at The ReBar

Wednesday the 23nd:
The Color Bars at The Tractor

Thursday the 24th:
The Greatest Hits at The Funhouse

Friday the 25th:
The Minus 5/The Dimes at The Doug Fir Lounge (Portland)

Saturday the 26th:
Danielli at The Skylark

The Heavy Hearts/The Cute Lepers at High Dive

Recommended shows for the week of 3/9/08

Monday the 10th:
The Presidents of the United States of America at Easy Street Records

Tuesday the 11th:
The Color Bars at the High Dive

Friday the 14th:
The Riffbrokers at King Cobra

While you're downloading

I just happened to be out on the Color Bars' myspace page, and it looks like they've got a handful of songs set for download now, including "Id Incinerator," which is a strong contender for my nomination as "song of the year."

The Color Bars are genius

Alright... I realize the title of this blog post is a bit hyperbolic. But, I've been sitting on The Color Bars' new release Kairos At Infinity for nearly a week now, trying to figure out how to review it, and I'm just stumped. It's really good. But, it's so crazy that even taking it all in is a challenge.

Don't get me wrong. It's super easy to enjoy each of these songs as they whiz, whirl, and swirl past me at each listen. They're all catchy and fun. It's just that anytime I've tried to get a 10,000 foot view of it for a review, I have struggled.

The one sentence that I have used a few times to describe the record to people is: This is what it might sound like if Matthew Sweet and The Beach Boys got high and went nuts in a Hello Kitty store.

So, let me try to slog through something more detailed and coherent to say here...

.... okay, I just sat silently without typing for five minutes. Obviously, I'm having a hard time being coherent.

Let me try again. I'll start with the lyrics, which are sublimely brilliant. They're evocative and surprising and psychedelic, while giving an acute perspective on whatever subject they're addressing in a given song. But, perhaps even more than the lyrics, what jumps out at me is how they're delivered. In truth, I have no idea what they're singing about 90 percent of the time. But, they are delivered with such a longing that they tug at my heart even when they're singing in Japanese (the very Matthew Sweet-esque "Ja Mata Shibuya") or about Dairy Queen (the falsetto disco pop of "Nepenthe Powered Tart").

With Kairos At Infinity The Colors Bars give us a post-modern, helium-driven ride through both pop history and pop future. Sometimes loping, sometimes danceable, sometimes driving and always poppy, the record is simultaneously confounding and irresistible. I can see everyone from the most jaded hipster to the most impressionable teenager to the most sophisticated listener enjoying this record.

Either that, or it will be completely missed by all parties, and if that happens it will be a shame, because they really do have their creative genius flowing on this record.

Look what just arrived!

I checked my mail today to find the new Color Bars cd. I'm ridiculously excited to talk to y'all about it. So, expect a full report and review and more info soon.

Between the Young Sportsmen and The Colors Bars releases, August was hot for Seattle powerpop music.

Holy crap... the IPO is in two weeks

The second-annual Seattle wing of the International Pop Overthrow is taking place in a mere two weeks. That's crazy! It seems like it was booked forever ago, but I'm only now realizing how close the event actually is.

I'm be posting a lot about the involved bands over the coming two weeks. But, for now, below is a simple reminder of the schedule. All shows are happening at the Sunset Tavern.

My first commentary on the IPO is that I can't help but notice that the ever-elusive Color Bars have dropped off the schedule. I don't know what the heck is up with those guys. I used to think they were simply studio obsessed. But, now I'm beginning to think they have moved in to some sort of Agoraphobia phase. That said, they have updated their website a bit, adding a blog (called No Yarn in Rayon) and referencing a fall 2007 tour. I'll believe it when I see it (and hope I do one day get to see it)!


Friday, August 24
7:30 CATFIGHT!
8:00 Beyond Veronica
8:30 The Scheme
9:00 Young Sportsmen
9:30 The Small Change
10:00 Stuporhero
10:30 The Sterling Loons
11:00 The Tripwires

Saturday, August 24
7:30 Smile Brigade
8:00 Emilio Banda
8:30 The Broadcast Debut
9:00 The Capillaries
9:30 Andy Werth
10:00 Twink The Wonder Kid
10:30 The Snakebites
11:00 Amateur Lovers

Sunday, August 26
7:30 Edmonton Block Heater
8:00 Andrea Wittgens
8:30 Bipolar Star
9:00 Vanilla
9:30 Before Cars
10:00 Easterly
10:30 Phamous Phaces
11:00 We Wrote The Book On Connectors

Monday, August 27
7:30 Sweet Diss And The Comebacks
8:00 Blackout
8:30 The Cheats
9:00 Lund Brothers
9:30 The Green Pajamas
10:00 Jimm McIver
10:30 Gary Reynolds & The Brides Of Obscurity
11:00 Ionesco

Forceweb on the SPB party (& Andy Werth video)

I posted earlier about the photo gallery of the SPB Anniversary show that Chris put up over at forceweb.com. Well, now he's got a whole post up about the show with lots of videos and thoughts. So, click on the link above and go check it out on his site (and browse around while you're there -- it's a cool site).

I'm going to embed the Andy Werth video here, because it's damn cool. This is Andy's cover of The Color Bars' "Eliza."

The Color Bars record...

... is totally going to rock my brain. I just hopped over to take a peek at their myspace page to see if they have any news or updates. Sadly, there are none.

But, I took another listen to the three new tracks from that planned upcoming record, titled Kairos At Infinity. They are REALLY REALLY REALLY good. Don't believe me? Go listen, chump. ;)

"Ja Mata Shibuya" sounds like a lost Matthew Sweet track if he had decided to mostly forego the distortion pedal, and I don't even know how to describe "ID Incinerator" right now. But, it sure brings a huge smile to my face each time I listen.

I sure hope they put this thing out soon.

Action in The Color Bars camp

I've been randomly monitoring a number of band pages for some signs of life. The Color Bars were slipping into the realm of those that I just assumed nothing was outwardly going on.

Well, they've given an overhaul to their website and their myspace page and posted some new recordings from their impending new record, which appears to be titled "Kairos At Infinity." The songs they've posted are strong. Hit the link to check out Ja Mata Shibuya, Id Incinerator and Pretty Krinkled. They're a little "trippy," while still poppy. But, very cool. Id Incinerator manages to bring to mind the Beach Boys and ELO, while still managing a moment of electronica drum break two-thirds of the way through the song.

I've sent these guys a few messages to no response. They're quite secretive, it seems. Or maybe just holed up in a studio.

Monday Morning mp3

It's a little on the older side, since it was released in 2004. But, for some reasons I was humming it all weekend long. The Monday Morning mp3 for today is "All Your Kitchen Ghosts" by The Color Bars. This tune is a little more trippy/psych that the rest of the tunes on their first record. But, it still gets stuck in my head.

What the heck... let's make it a "two-fer" mp3 Monday. Here is the song "Eliza," also by The Color Bars, just to give you another feel from their record.

Word is they're recording as we speak. Their website says look for a "fall 2006" release.


The Color Bars' 2004 album cover art