A Shared Rainbow has a retro feel, not in the sense of a past musical epoch, but the perfect childhood summer we wish we all had when we were ten. It sways in the breeze and lies down in the grass in the shade of an old oak tree when it gets too hot.
The guitar- and synth-happy, slightly sun-burned A Shared Rainbowhas an indefatigable, sunny disposition, from the very first handclaps on “October 10th King Elementary” to the last wave licking the toes of “Shamu Sleeps Tonight.” The Akron, Ohio trio invited a dozen shiny, happy guest artists from local bands and treated them to cookies and Hawaiian Punch. Coasting on the resulting suger rush, the whole album skips along at a blithe, uptempo pace, led by Joe Minadeo’s grand piano and tinkered-with electronica. The brass bell of the trumpet catches a glint of Mexican sun on “Lluvia y Sal.” An ecstatic, wild-eyed synthesizer solo emerges out of the violin swirl on “SuperWarmer” (violinist Flora Nevarez is stupendous every time she picks up her bow). “Cosmo” is a glitter gulch mini-Western.
A Shared Rainbow has a retro feel, not in the sense of a past musical epoch, but the perfect childhood summer we wish we all had when we were ten. It sways in the breeze and lies down in the grass in the shade of an old oak tree when it gets too hot. I’m not certain it’s a label hallmark, but Abandon Building has previously released the equally giddy, sanguine DoF, so no sullen, slurred, fuzzy miserablism here, just big, wide, goofy smiles, totally unencumbered by any pretention to being “cool.” Which of course makes it so cool.
A Shared Rainbow is available on Abandon Building / Pattern Based.
