Colleen Green
Cool
Hardly Art Records [2021]
After 2015’s solid I Want To Grow Up we were fully prepared to see much more of Colleen Green’s guitar pop smarts and then she went quiet. After 6 years we finally have new material in Cool from Colleen Green that is full of mature guitar pop which is direct, lighthearted and will remind you why you like indie rock in the first place.
From the catchy “I Wanna Be A Dog,” that finds Green walking through the carefree nature of a dogs life compared to the struggles we all have to the smoldering “Highway,” that has a sinister robotic beat as Green highlights all the wrongs about going to fast and not pausing for the things you completely miss while singing in an almost spoken whisper style. It is a song that showcases the strength of Green’s songwriting and how she can deliver a message encased in a good pop song.
There are other highlights on the album that come at you subtlety like the positive message and memorable chorus in “It’s Nice To Be Nice” or the layered harmonies in “You Don’t Exist.” Colleen Green snagged producer Gordon Raphael (The Strokes) to help shape these songs along with drummer Brendan Eder and hip hop producer Aqua over a few weeks in Los Angeles. It turned out to be the right move because I feel Cool leaves you in a positive state and never tries hard to be catchy – it just is. Green’s confidence with herself and place in this universe seems at ease and lets Cool just entertain. I just hope we don’t have to wait for another 6 years to hear Colleen Green again because her mood here is infectious.
Key Tracks: “Highway” / “Someone Else” / “It’s Nice To Be Nice”
Artists With Similar Fire: Juliana Hatfield / Beach Bunny / Liz Phair
Colleen Green Review History: I Want To Grow Up (2015)
Colleen Green Website
Colleen Green Facebook
Hardly Art Records
-Reviewed by Christopher Anthony
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