Every artist knows, you have to have darkness …
to show the light … Whether it’s Caravaggio and his chiaroscuro, or Bob Ross - who provided the headline quote - it’s all about light an shade, innit? A bit of variety (it is the spice of life after all) keeps the palate - or palette - from getting jaded, no less so for music than for art or gastronomy.
Following up their heavy HEAVY offering of Worrykill [reviewed here: https://tmblr.co/Zc96bkhqH4V44W00], Rare Birds ATL’s latest release Shiny Side is an appropriately sparkling, light-and-bubbly musical palate cleanser. The opening chiming acoustic and warm, lower register Les Paul accents evoke a touch of the Maggie Mays, and the Rod & The Faces vibe continues in the ensuing louche swagger that follows - complete with cracking period-appropriate electric piano to the fore and powerful gravel-and-molasses vocals.
In keeping with the brighter breezier feel, the lads aren’t hanging about: with a jerky, urgent, soully chorus or two out of the way, a brief low-key (no pun intended) run-out for the Fender Rhodes, and a final showcase for those impressive pipes in a passionate melismatic cadenza, we’re done.
Rattlingly good, get-up-and-swing-those-flares, honest-to-goodness upbeat positivity in a world darker than we might wish it to be… and no tanks involved.
Shiny Side is available to stream or buy (buy it, go on) from the Rare Birds ATL bandcamp page here: https://rarebirdsatl.bandcamp.com/track/shiny-side