Record Review: Brown Recluse
Brown Recluse
Evening Tapestry
Philadelphia, PA
“Blissful and syrupy magic that is actually listenable”
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Since the release of their Soft Skin EP in 2009, Brown Recluse’s music has taken on a more peachy and delightful rhythm. But there’s still that lingering dream-like haze of springy-pop drowsiness, drawing from the band’s obvious Zombies and Beach Boys influences.
Evening Tapestry opens with tracks like “Impressions of a City Morning” and “Summer Showers,” which are all organized around a bouncy and penetrable aesthetic that is, quite simply, remarkably joyful (just imagine yourself on a merry-go-round joy ride with your closest friends on a cloudless beach). The album then stretches into tracks like “Monday Moon” and “Paisley Tears,” giving off a more bizarre and haunting vibe. That’s not to call it depressing, though. Timothy Meskers’ radiant and unworried vocals consistently glimmer into moments of drifty euphoria. The light and seductive surf-rock guitar patches in the background are a bonus.
Brown Recluse is a band that seems to be stuck in the age of ’60s psychedelic indie-pop and rock & roll fever, which is a good thing. So, if you’re looking for a soundtrack to document the blissful and syrupy magic of a dazed-out summer of joy, Evening Tapestry is an album that welcomes sunshine. (Slumberland Records)
Recorded and produced by Mark Saddlemire at Sound in the Round Studios, Philadelphia // Additional mixing and assistance by Timothy Meskers and Brian McTear
–Vanna Le
