(THE SOUNDS OF) KALEIDOSCOPE – (THE SOUNDS OF) KALEIDOSCOPE (s/t)

dreamy/sweet retro garage pop. warm, summery guitar fuzz and almost; androgynous male vocals over pretty standard, yet still pretty, pop (rock)songs. sometimes psych-ey, with longer song endings progressing to something a bit loud. retro vibe a la the kinks/the beatles, but more obviously modern a la olivia tremor control, yo la tengo, pavement (!), secret square/apples in stereo. the members have been around and playing together in various capacities (and some, as backing members of acid mothers temple!) for over 10 years, and their sensibilities and influences can be seen in both good and bad ways: sometimes it feels a bit unoriginal, but that doesn't mean they're not making a good contribution -- this is solid music worth its own recognition. (recommended: 3, 5, 8, 11) FCC clean. -- by joanna s. (jms)

1. slow, garage-y beat with guitar drone. mostly monotone vocals stretch up and down. then, just fuzzy guitars rocking out in the background, sometimes in harmony, sometimes just pleasantly dissonant. might be a good quiet then loud intro to a lo-fi/psych rock set.

2. instrumental, droning + spooky with loops of the beats from track one. creepy atmosphere.

*3. poppy male vocals, boppy beat, nostalgia-inducing, dreamy lyrics. catchy chorus-verse changeover. cute! ends a little early (around -0:05).

4. warm, garage-y pop. a simple repeated bass line you can nod along to. fun chorus with sing-along-able refrain. actually ends at
-0:10

*5. upbeat, happy high-pitched male vox. + some guitar effects reminiscent of my bloody valentine, more emphasis on a cheery guitar line than lyrics. this one also feels like a single. sweet.

6. heavier pop: starts with feedback (cute/cheesy), leads to a kinks-style lilting vox + simple guitar/drum combo. boppable, build-up beat, but nothing too heavy. builds up to a drum-along-with-your-pencils-on-the-console, solid ending.

7. jangly guitars, mixed with my bloody valentine-style backing 'oh's. psychedelic, somewhat silly lyrics. again, like 6, a satisfying pop song ending. guitar experimentation builds up to traditional pop song end.

*8. a variety of styles: starts with ponderous guitars, drums then building into the mix. about one minute in, the song structure becomes a bit more obvious. then, about two minutes in, it unexpectedly speeds up (fun! and unlike what you'd expect) and vocals come in, as does a kind of syrupy-sweet lead guitar line. actually ends (but for trailing feedback) at -0:15.

9. definitely psychedelic. yo la tengo-esque vocals in the start. kind of plodding main guitar/bass line driving the song forward between verses and an awkward guitar solo, which somehow seems to start too slow but becomes a bit more realized as the song goes on. and then, it's like whoa! it was all a big lead-up to a huge guitar solo! unfortunately, it feels kind of tame.

10. loopy feedback and manipulated guitar effects. sounds like sitting on a haunted swing while a large cloud of mystery and doctor-who-era time machine-energy drifts closer and closer.

*11. gutsy, upbeat guitar. rockin' start! can almost hear the revolver-era beatles for a second, kinks-style vocal delivery. fun tight beat and drums. becomes another of their (relatively) harder tracks in its last 30 seconds. actually ends at -0:15!

12. droney guitar/violin?/drum outro with a beat, builds to a crescendo until drums/guitar cut out abruptly, only 0:48