Miscellaneous - My Colors Dark
by Benjamin Howarth
published: 9 / 9 / 2020

Label:
Select Label
Format: N/A
intro
Ben Howarth refelcts upon Californian singer-songwriter Sean O'Brien's eighth solo album from last year, which is an enjoyable ride from power-pop to angsty punk.
In a songwriting career now spanning more than twenty five years, Sean O’ Brien has played with a number of California-based groups. But it is as a solo artist that he has become most prolific, with this being his eighth record under his own name. ‘My Colors Dark’ bursts straight out of the blocks with a quick drum beat and goes straight into the immediately infectious ‘Master of the Slow Burn’. It seems like a slightly misleading title, as this track is anything but a slow burn – two minutes of fuzzy, garage rock with a beat that goes straight to the toes. The next track opens the ears a little wider, with an effective use of close-harmony vocals on a track that nods towards Big Star. This track hangs around a little longer, with a punchy riff temporarily breaking the early-70's vibe. But we are dragged straight further back into the mid-60s with ‘Hilarious’, which does a convincing pass at being a Gene Clark contribution to one of the early Byrds albums. At this point the album opens out – ‘Kiss Full of Questions’ slows down and branches out with a combination of piano and guitar that reminds me of ‘Alladin Sane’-era Bowie, but that is just a warm up for the best track on the album, the piano-led ‘The Day You Own It’, which has a loose time signature and a hazy mood. It’s one Jeff Tweedy would have been happy to claim for a Wilco album. Very nearly as good is side one’s final track, ‘Down the Stairs’ a country-tinged duet with Laura Benitez a particularly effective change of pace into the chorus. At this point, as you get up to the pop the vinyl over to side two, you might be thinking that there are lots of references to other, more famous rock stars. And indeed there are – but they are just subtle nods, signs that Sean O’Brien is someone with great taste who you want to spend some more time with. It also doesn’t hurt that his band is consistently tight – the drums and bass never show off, but there’s something they do on every track they do with appreciation. The album continues and we are into post-punk territory for the start of side two – ‘Trying to Stop’ is a tightly played head-nodder that Husker Du would have been happy with and then it goes into the fuzzy riffs of first ‘Three Snakes Cought’, which just about gets away with its pastiche of nineties teenage angst and ‘Poor Gun Country’, a slightly tongue-in-cheek anti-gun culture song with a booming bass riff. We then pull into the home straight with one of its catchiest songs, ‘Broken World’, before ending with the six-minute acoustic led ‘The Burden is Not Great’, a sincere reflection on #MeToo, garnished with an exceptional Knopfler-esque guitar solo that brings this record to a fitting close. If Sean O’Brien’s genre-hopping potentially makes him potentially a challenge to market (I have no idea what Spotify’s algorhythm makes of him), it makes his album a rewarding listen. Never repeating itself, ‘My Colors Dark’ is a convincing and engaging listen from start to finish.
Track Listing:-
Also In ReView
Bark Psychosis (2018)
Bert Jansch (2020)
Bert Jansch (2019)
Beth Orton (2014)
Big Eyes Family (2021)
Billy Idol (2018)
Bitter Springs (2021)
Blind Mr Jones (2015)
Blue Nile (2014)
Breathless (2016)
Brinsley Schwarz (2017)
Cardiacs (2014)
Chvrches (2014)
David Bowie (2022)
David Gray (2020)
Death and Vanilla (2016)
Donald Fagen (2021)
Earthworks (2020)
Flamin Groovies (2015)
Gene Clark (2019)
Giant Sand (2020)
Gomez (2018)
Gong (2015)
Grace Jones (2016)
Grace Jones (2014)
Graham Day and the Forefathers (2019)
Hawks (2021)
Hawkwind (2022)
Hot Pepper (2018)
Ian A. Anderson (2021)
Ian Dury (2021)
Iron Butterfly (2014)
John Cooper Clarke (2016)
Joni Mitchell (2021)
Lapre (2020)
Loft (2021)
Madness (2014)
McCarthy (2015)
Mercury Rev (2019)
Miscellaneous (2014)
Monochrome Set (2015)
Mothmen (2015)
Neil Innes (2020)
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (2015)
Party Day (2021)
Pele (2017)
Phil Alvin (2015)
Phil Ochs (2016)
Primitives (2015)
Roger Mcguinn (2018)
Rubik (2021)
Sorrow (2018)
Television Personalities (2018)
Terry Allen (2016)
Townes Van Zandt (2015)
Trashmen (2020)
Ty Segall (2022)
Ub40 (2015)
VIPS (2020)
Wolfhounds (2015)
Zz Top (2018)
Picture Gallery:-


most viewed articles
current edition
Robby Krieger - Set The Night on Fire, Living, Dying, And Playing Guitar with The DoorsBoomtown Rats - Ten Songs That Made Me Love....
Lida Husik - Interview
Cathal Coughlan - Interview
Rick Wakeman - Interview
Peter Doherty and Frederic Lo - Cavern Club, Liverpool, 27/3/2022
Cliff Richard - Not Fade Away
Simon Bromide - Interview
Candlelight Tribute to Coldplay - Manchester Cathedral, Manchester, 1/4/2022
Wolfgang Flur - Interview
previous editions
World Party - InterviewSam Brown - Interview 2008
Cliff Richard - Vs Elvis Presley
Trudie Myerscough-Harris - Interview
Eric Chappell - Interview 1
Pete Brown - Interview
Ruskin Arms - The Image That Made Me Weep
Half Man Half Biscuit - Ten Songs That Made Me Love...
Melanie Blake - Interview
Joy Division - The Image That Made Me Weep
most viewed reviews
current edition
Rupert Wates - For The PeopleBanjo Jen - Fine Line
Kiki Dee and Carmelo Luggeri - The Long Ride Home
Bonham-Bullick - Bonham-Bullick
Dead South - Easy Listening for Jerks Parts 1 and 2
Family - A Song for Me
Loop - Sonancy
Stereophonics - Oochya!
Weather Station - How Is It That I Should Look At The Stars
John Mayall - The Sun is Shining Down
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Adrian P
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Carl Bookstein
Chris O'Toole
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dixie Ernill
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank