Awesome Color

"Is it possible to smash a guitar un-self-consciously? It certainly seemed that way at Cake Shop earlier this month, when Awesome Color left a roomful of in-the-know types gleefully dumbstruck. (Oakley Hall was headlining-- that alone means several quality musicians were present.) Singer Derek Stanton's seemingly unpremeditated ax-whacking lacked any sense of violence or menace(which is fine). It was simply the final blow in a stream of gestures that translate across rock & roll forms; any punk, metal, or bar-rock fan can appreciate the thrill of someone playing guitar with his bare feet--and having it both look and sound cool. (Yes, Stanton did that, too). Considering that Awesome Color has been a band for only nine months, there's an alarming lack of things to find fault with in their music or its execution; even the name makessense after witnessing the trio's unironic stage presence. Some of the group's songs evoke Sabbath as played by Germans in the '70s, with Stanton's terse riffs cruising atop crisp, loping grooves provided by bassist Michael Troutman and drummer Allison Busch. Other tunes come across like lean, airy impressions of classic Southern rock (the three met in Ann Arbor, Michigan--the northernmost Southern state--before setting up together in Bushwick). But the most indelible image from an Awesome Color show is the rapt joy in Stanton's face when he backs away from the microphone for a solo. It was infections in the close quarters of Cake Shop, and should be at the Lakeside, too." Mike Wolf



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