What has inspired me to write six or seven blog entries for the freezer today? Could it be that I'm savoring the music of Red House Painters and can't move from my computer speakers?

Waaay back in the early 1990s, when I was a college radio DJ, the guy who came in after me had a bag of alternative rock CD's. I largely disdained alternative rock, and still do. The name of one of the bands in his bag particularly caught my attention: Red House Painters. What a stupid name! Would anyone hire a house painter if they only consented to painting in red? If I remember right, he recommended I check them out, or maybe the name just stuck with me.

A few years later, after the Internet and Amazon.com were invented, I heard some samples, and then downloaded some MP3's. Wow...this was definitely up my alley!

Desiring to go in chronological order, I started with their debut EP, Down Colourful Hill. I wanted to really get into that and "get it" before I moved on. I think I've listened to that for over a year now, so today I just started listening to their eponymous first full-length album, often called Rollercoaster, pictured above.

This is just great stuff. Almost Zeppelin-level in it's goodness, I dare say. None of that jangly, nasal-toned R.E.M. stuff, no mish-mash of sludgy guitars and strained larynxes like Nirvana. This is a blend of melancholic singer-songwriter lyrics and echoing, spacey guitars. Fans of Simon & Garfunkel and Neil Young take note, maybe even Christopher Cross. From what I read they're similar to the Smiths, if you're into them. I recommend checking out "Medicine Bottle" and "Japanese to English" from the debut EP, and "Strawberry Hill," "Katy Song" and "Grace Cathedral Park" seem to be the standouts from the first full-length, so far. I've got the first three CD's on order from Amazon now and can hardly wait to hold the real thing in my hands.

Red House Painters is actually a early 1990's phenomenon, and now the singer-songwriter, Mark Kozelek, has moved on to new projects (he started this band in Atlanta, by the way). I'm a decade late getting in on this, but hey, I'm 37. Don't be slow to pick up on them like me. Check `em out.

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