Los Angeles outfit Fast Color has finally unveiled their debut album Freaks Feel Like Divas, an eight-track collection immersed in the band’s clamorous and rousing rock. Holed up in their Glassell Park home, duo Kelly Larkin and Sean Doherty recorded and produced the album on their own. Filling it with their ardent love for analog creation and dustily scorching sonics — as well as a certain wild-eyed eclecticism. The band will perform in Los Aneles on July 28th at Permanent Records.
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On its opening track “In the Fire,” Larkin takes the reigns with her spellbindingly breathy vocals as she spirals headfirst into a psych-rock-flecked soundscape of fuzzy guitar noisiness and buoyantly dreamy rushes of percussion. While in between all the funky explosions comes the riveting flourish of shimmering keys — just before the whole thing warpspeeds through a melting wormhole of roiling riffs.
And even when Fast Color is meandering through a slow-burner, as in the drawlingly melodic “Good Morning (Oh, Go Head),” they still manage to wrangle this crescendo of rollicking energy that is impossible to resist. On the sizzling ode to “Natasha Lyonne,” the band pays homage to the patron saint of freaky divas herself as Larkin gushes against the sauntering warble of guitars: “Won’t you break my heart, Natasha Lyonne?”
“Yeah, She Told Me” sees Fast Color cutting into some classic rock as they harmonize over a luminous melody led by Doherty’s croons. But then they pull a fast one with a key change turning the song into a surging anthem of grizzled riffs that ignite and crackle alongside his stunning wails.
If you weren’t feeling the heat yet, at this point in the record you’re entirely up in flames. Some of the other highlights on Freaks Feel Like Divas include twanging and harmonica-hollering “Radio Man” and the spacey jaunt of “Venus (In The Summer)” — a track that dazzles in particular with its volatile finale.
Visit Fast Color on their Bandcamp and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements. Catch them live at Permanent Records on July 28th!
Words: Steven Ward
Listen to Freaks Feel Like Divas the new album from Fast Color below!
