Big Orange Crayonmusical thingsB'ehl Bright Eyes Endearing Records This is one of the sweeter albums I've hear so far this year. That's what B'ehl is really good at: wonderful and sweet pop tunes. The first time I ever heard them was the song "Tag" on the Oda King Made This Dress compilation on Hub City and I've loved them ever since. You really have to love a band that plays a song about a squirrel. Melanie and Allison, the two singers, have really cute voices that seem childish or elven, but in a good way; they sing emotional bits without it getting sappy and the happier bits seem all the more happy. It's all brilliantly innocent and cheerful. The instrumentation is pretty much what I think of when I think of indiepop: fast rhythms, pretty melodies, lots of jangly guitars, and nice catchy hooks. They don't test the boundaries of pop music at all (for some reason I've read people criticize them for this), but they're not trying to and that's a good thing. They simply make wonderful pop tunes that you'll want to listen to for hours and hours. There's nothing wrong with listening to a perfect pop songs like "See what you see" or "Pink Star", is there? If there is I'm probably in trouble. Anyway, I really love this album. Every song makes me smile. It's the kind of music that you listen to when it's snowy out and you want to think about spring. Total score: 588 out of 588 |