Overwhelming Colorfast＜Colored Vinyl＞

From the opening chords of the frenetic and furious "It's Tomorrow," the self-titled debut by Overwhelming Colorfast bears an obvious Husker Du influence, with Bob Reed's voice at times resembling Bob Mould's. Like Husker Du, this quartet churns out catchy tunes powered by abrasive guitars and impassioned vocals. Influences aside, Overwhelming Colorfast proves quite adept at draping its lively melodies with layers of fuzzy guitar on tracks like "Totally Gorgeous Foreign Chick," "My Trip," and "Arrows." The band also delivers a solid cover of the Beatles' classic "She Said, She Said," injecting the song with a little more muscle than the original version. The album's emphasis on a thick guitar sound could be attributed to the fact that Butch Vig produced the record, shortly before presiding over sessions for the Smashing Pumpkins' similarly crunch-heavy Siamese Dream. Though certainly not a groundbreaking album, Overwhelming Colorfast will easily satisfy fans of brisk, post-punk rock & roll. ~ Michael Frey