Brown Recluse - The Soft Skin

Brown Recluse Sings formed in 2006 around the core of TimothyMeskers and Mark Saddlemire. Taking influence from thepsych pop of The Zombies and Margo Guryan, the tropicaliaof Os Mutantes, and 60s producers like Joe Meek and PhilSpector, the two recorded and released the six-song Black SundayEP, an electrifying blast of pop invention that boasts blindingsong-craft, skilled arrangements, and gorgeous playing. It srare to hear a record so assured from such a young band.2006 and 2007 saw the duo expand to a six-piece live bandthat played numerous shows on the East Coast, writing new materialand winning new fans along the way. The fact that they veplayed with groups as varied as The Pains of Being Pure AtHeart, Tyvek, Dirty Projectors, Matt and Kim, and Meneguargives some indication of the wide-reaching influencesthis band takes in. The Soft Skin was recorded in mid-2007; afterdelays with the original release, it has now come out on SlumberlandRecords. The four songs show an increasingly confidentfull-band line-up stretching out and reaching a new plateau.A pastoral, psychedelic vibe permeates the EP, bringingto mind the sunshine pop of Curt Boettcher s The Millenniumand Sagittarius projects and such familiar touchstones as BrianWilson, Belle & Sebastian, The Clientele, and the Elephant 6collective. This is pretty heady company to keep, but perfectlyrealized songs like Night Train and Rainy Saturday morethan hold their own.Brown Recluse Sings are hard at work on their debut albumfor Slumberland due late 2009, but until then The Soft Skin makesan excellent introduction to the band and an ideal soundtrack for the summer.

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