Secret Colours

Secret Colours impressed the crowd in the Levitation Tent, conjuring up BritPop influenced sounds whilst still embodying a modern take on psychedelia. The Chicago based group lifted the happy vibes for all, as did Mr Mikal Cronin over on the main stage a little later. Giving everyone a good dose of indie punk/garage rock, this provided all the open ears with yet more variation on the word ‘psych’. - Subba Cultcha

Many took shelter under the Levitation tent for shade, where they could still enjoy a good show. Secret Colours performed their songs “It Can’t Be Simple,” “Blackhole,” “City Slicker” and “Redemption,” off of their album Positive Distractions. Lead vocalist Tommy Evans stated that Austin Psych Fest was one of the best festivals in the world. He proceed to jump around in circles for their entire performance. While introducing their newest single “Into You,” Evans announced that the song was locally recorded in Dripping Springs, and that Austin feels like one the band’s second homes. They continued on to play “I Know What You Want.” While the band rocked out on stage, people in the crowd played air drums and danced around to Secret Colours ‘60s psych-pop/brit-pop tunes. - mxdwn.com

When you make a habit of going to shows, talking to bands, reading local music blogs, and scanning the schedule of every half-decent club in town, it's always surprising—even a little disconcerting—when a record by a local band you've never even heard of before ends up in your lap. Doubly so when it's really good.

Neither I nor any of the music-savvy friends I asked had heard of Secret Colours until the band's publicist sent me a download of their new self-titled debut album a few weeks ago. Their initial incarnation—guitarist-vocalist Tommy Evans, drummer Justin Frederick, bassist Dylan Olson, and lead guitarist Dave Stach—came together about a year ago, and not till November 2009 did they arrive at their second and current lineup with the addition of Margaret Albright, who plays keys and tambourine and sings backup alongside Stach.

Aside from Stach, at 23 a veteran of suburban power-pop outfits Surround Sound and Bachelor Party Weekend, no one in Secret Colours has previously played in anything more serious than a high school pickup band. Stach is the oldest member, and Evans and Olson are just 20. Only now are they starting to find their place in the Chicago scene and make connections with other local bands—some of which, like the Great Society Mind Destroyers, make music similar to Secret Colours' dark, droning psychedelic rock, and some of which, like Gold Motel and Apteka, do not.

Evans was the catalyst for the band's formation. Though he and Olson played together in high school (aside from Frederick, who attended Batavia High School, everyone in the group went to Geneva High), Secret Colours' creative nucleus was a batch of songs he'd written and recorded on his own after graduation—as Stach puts it, "just being a little space cadet by himself in his bedroom." Evans met Stach through a mutual friend and shared the material with him. Stach brought in Frederick, a guitarist who'd previously only moonlighted on drums—and who sold a 12-string Rickenbacker to buy a kit decent enough for a full-time drumming gig. Evans and Albright, who live together in the South Loop, have been dating for seven years. "So I've always been in the picture," she says. "One day they realized that I could do the backing vocals for the song 'Popstar,'" the CD's bonus track, "and then I was in."

"It's more that we just wanted a girl to play tambourine onstage," says Stach, apparently mostly joking. "'Cause it just looks fuckin' sweet."

Secret Colours' love of psych-rock groups like the Black Angels and the Brian Jonestown Massacre—whose lineups tend to sprawl like their music—probably also helped this particular tambourine-playing girl get the gig. "All those other bands have one," says Frederick, "so why can't we?"

Lots of young, inexperienced bands start off playing opening slots on as many shows as they can, to figure out what they want their style to be, tighten up their performances, network with other acts, and get their name and music in front of people. It's not unusual for such a group to have three or four shows a month. That's not where Secret Colours have focused their energy, though. They figure they've played maybe 15 dates—including gigs before Albright joined—and only five have been in Chicago clubs. The rest have been in DIY spaces, the suburbs, or both.

Secret Colours instead chose to dive into recording a full-length album in a professional studio—a potentially expensive gamble for a group whose only demos were a set of bedroom recordings, but one that makes sense given that Evans is studying to be a recording engineer at Columbia College. Evans sold off one of his two Rickenbackers—a recurring theme for the band, apparently—to help finance the project. ("No offense to Rickenbacker," he says. "We love their guitars.") In March and April they spent about 18 days tracking and mixing at Studio Edison in Park Ridge and Gallery of Carpet in Villa Park. Tub Ring keyboardist Rob Kleiner, a friend of the band, runs Studio Edison—basically a pro-quality home studio—and he gave them a small discount. Gallery of Carpet, says Olson, offered Secret Colours a rate they could afford because the state of the economy has made it hard to attract clients. For everyone but Stach, the experience was a first.

Ten of the 14 tunes on Secret Colours are from Evans's original clutch of songs, which remains the core of the band's sets even now. He's been working on new material—this time involving the others—and they plan to release an EP by the end of the year. "What attracted me initially," says Stach, "is when I heard all these songs first that he did by himself, he did, like, everything. I thought it was really cool. Ever since then, he brings in the song and then the rest of us spice it up and make it sexy."

The album is pleasingly dense, with chiming acoustic guitars, swirling vocals, jet-fighter electric fuzz, and tom-heavy drumming. Secret Colours wear their influences on their sleeves—not just the Bla - Chicago Reader

Don’t be fooled by the u in the name. Nor the way Tommy Evans stretches his vowels like some glassy-eyed Manc. Secret Colours are not, as their Britpop-indebted debut would have you believe, blue-collar lads with bowl cuts from Northern England.

The nascent Chicago quintet whips up a highly reverential racket—mixing the stoned bliss of the Roses, the leather-clad fuzz of the Mary Chain and the Merseybeat-mining swagger of Oasis. Hell, Secret Colours even called a song “Some Might Say,” which counts as some karmic payback for all the time the Gallagher brothers knocked off the Beatles. Yes, this is a third-generation copy of the ’60s Beat-invasion sound. Fashion designers keep remaking denim jeans, so what’s the difference?

Besides, the confident psychedelic washes of Colours are hardly faded, despite coming patched with druggy clichés like “get lost in the sunshine” and “kaleidoscope eyes.” Looking young enough to be claimed as dependents on a 1040, the five band members strum and moan over cool rumbling shuffles, motorcycle roar and tambourine jangle.

“Kill me / Gently / With your favorite chemical,” Evans sighs on the narco-western “Chemical Swirl.” The hallucinogenic, shamanic mood is apparent enough—melodica, vibraslap rattles and echoing snare shots that snap like pistols—but he goes on specifically to request Ecstasy and DMT.

The drug shtick smells bogus. Which isn’t such a bad thing. Bands of this ilk are typically dazed and cocksure. Margaret Albright, a cute girl seemingly straight out of a marching band who lays organ over these tunes, is smiling and perky in the liner notes. What if the new twist is that these guys are actually adorable?

Secret Colours heat up the Beat Kitchen Saturday 14. - Time Out Chicago

We’re happy to share with you an exclusive first listen to the Peach cut “Blackhole.” It’s got the melty Day-Glo feel of a Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd song, embellished with piano, melodica, and a drum machine that’s better suited to sinking into a bean bag chair than raving until dawn.

Read more: Exclusive: Listen to Secret Colours' New Track - Esquire
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Visit us at Esquire.com - Esquire Magazine

Ultimately, it’s the pop flair coursing through this music that gives Secret Colours its vitality. While most of the songs are around 5 minutes long, there’s a noticeable dearth of guitar histrionics, whether flamboyant showboating or over-the-top power chords bludgeoning your ears, and this makes the tunes sound fresh and interesting.
- Dryvetyme Onlyne

Bottom line: Secret Colours is a band like the Plimsouls that beguile you on the basis, essentially, of strong songwriting, singing, and guitar playing, and that’s enough. Yes, some of the underlying song structure can, for a moment, make them sound like a generic ’90s rock band. They maybe could have pared the album by three songs. But cast those doubts aside. This is a band that is as confident, though nowhere near as obnoxious, as Oasis was two albums in. Peach is an album you can play over and over again and still want to hear more. They are much more commercial than a true alternative band. But that’s just fine. It’s a good thing when an excellent band becomes huge, as we — and they — have every reason to believe they’ll be. - Tulip Frenzy

Psychedelic Sunday: Peach by Secret Colours - Psychedelic Sunday

Secret Colours has is a solid daydream album, the kind you can put on and let it influence your mind for just over 54 minutes. - Best New Bands

Music is not dead; far from it if our mid-year list of Albums of The Year 2013 is anything to go by!



- Louder Than War

The Summer of Psych is seemingly upon us; a series of tripped-out-pop albums pile up looking to make sonic patterns in the sunshine. And so it’s into this scene that Secret Colours release their sophomore album, Peach.

The record races in with Blackbird (Only One) all fuzzy guitars, rumbling bass, and a vocal line that manages to evoke at least three separate eras of pop without once sounding confused. This song sets the tone of the album before tripping out into a crunchy riff and expanding synth duel. It tells you everything about what the rest of the album will offer while giving away none of the surprises lying in wait in the other songs.

And there are plenty of surprises to be had; flourishes and intricacies are spread thickly but changes of tempo and a solid grasp of their musical heritage means it ‘s all flair, little filler. Indeed, there’s a strong sense that it is this band’s deep immersion in their favourite genres and periods of music that gives them the confidence to playfully mix them all up.

This pays off aplenty; Blackhole being a great example of how adding light with the melody makes the swirling haze of guitar and horizontal vocals soar and spin rather than getting lost in some cosmic dirge.

There’s a whole bushel of Doors’ flavoured keyboard throughout many of the tracks. Warm slow-build swirls, intoxicating in their crescendo. It’s just another one of those touches that make you think of the past while hearing the song in the moment.

Title track Peach begins with the sort of plinky-plonk keys and deep-country-strum you feel The Waltons would get on with before descending into a strung out refrain over a vocal sample that evokes Blur at their introspective experimental best.

Followed by Faust we get a spoonful of the ’70s; a T-Rex tease and vocal. They follow this with My Heart is in Your Soul – fabulously warm guitar tumbles before that work-a-day piano breaks through to herald a gentle, almost Belle and Sebastian, interlude.



The album closes with Love Like A Fool. This is a quieter moment compared to what’s come before mixing a classic Elton John piano sound with spiraling vocals reminiscent of the Beatles, with their minds fully expanded on wisdom and weed. Like everywhere else they sprinkle it with the Britpop sound – effortlessly heightening the heritage as we’re zoomed somewhere new.

It’s this mix of previous musical periods that is so very intriguing about this album. The ’60s psychedelia, the ’70s glam rock, the ’80s pop vocal, the ’90s guitar-fuelled Britpop sound; the fact that so many of these in themselves aped or were influenced with their predecessors makes it even more interesting that Secret Colours bring out the specific nuances of each one without getting bogged down in detail.

Peach is amongst the pick of the current psych-pop crop; reveling in its influences while taking the sound forward. The album is just packed with drop-out swirls and tumbling rhythms, fuzzy guitars and layered vocals, honkytonk piano and spacey synths that break up the impenetrably dense haze blighting so many of their contemporaries records right now.

Peach is ripe with rich, succulent sounds all wrapped up in a velvet fuzz skin. Quite simply one of the best psych-pop records you’ll hear right now.

- See more at: http://louderthanwar.com/secret-colours-peach-album-review/#sthash.uozYXMf5.dpuf - Louder Than War

Secret Colours’ latest record, Peach, isn’t out until May 28, but The A.V. Club has the premiere of the band’s new video today. Dark and smoky, “Blackhole” aptly visualizes a track that ably bridges ‘60s psychedelia and ‘90s Britpop. Blissed out and full of haircuts, the clip is equal parts Dandy Warhols, Beta Band, and Kula Shaker. Bonus points to the guy in the gas mask. - The AV Club

Sometimes with bands, it’s just all second-hand talk regarding how X band-you’ve-never-heard-of sounds like Y genres-you-really-love. But Secret Colours, who, according to no one less than themselves revel in being the bastard seed of the ’60s psychedelia and ’90s Britpop bloodlines, have accurately placed themselves on the line between the two movements they effortlessly amalgamate.

The Chicago band enlisted producer Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Gomez, Iron & Wine) for their sophomore sojourn toward the place where psychedelia meets pop. Unlike so many bands on the same pilgrimage who end up being described by variances of the word “chill”, Secret Colours turn it up to 11. The group clamor out of the gate on the first few tracks, with “Blackbird (Only One)” calling to mind the Dandy Warhols when they rock the hardest; it’s easy to get lost when the song is steeped in reverb for its last fourth or so, beckoning from a rabbit hole of spiraling guitar. “Euphoric Collisions” and “Lust” both exude sex, as hazy-voiced frontman Tommy Evans sings, “She’s so sexy / makes me crazy” on the former and “Damn / I just can’t stand / The things you do with your hands” on the latter.

But it’s on “Legends of Love”, a song that captures the embalming mood of dazed record store patrons, that embodies what this four-piece is up to on Peach. The band gifts us a track that recalls something of the past, but the way they bend their fuzzy guitars, pound their relentless rhythm, and swim through their kaleidoscopic sound — you can’t even tell it was used.

Essential Tracks: “Blackbird (Only One)”, “Legends of Love” - Consequence of Sound

Secret Colours says the following about themselves: Secret Colours revel in being the bastard seed of the ’60s psychedelia and ’90s Britpop bloodlines. Truly, they know who they are, because that description fits their sophomore release, Peach, perfectly. The foursome from Chicago somehow manage to evoke Oasis, Then Jerico, The Beatles and The Doors in a mishmash of the two genres – something that you’d think shouldn’t work, and yet, it does. Some of their songs lean more ‘90s Britpop – “Blackbird (Only One)” and “World Through My Window” (which has an incredible jam session mid-song) in particular – while others swing more towards ‘60s psychedelic rock, such as “Freak” and “Faust.” This is a great album for a summer party – pick up the drink of your choice and just start moving to the beat! - The Owl Magazine

Aptly named Peach, the sophomore release from Chicago band Secret Colours is bountiful with fuzz—be it from real peaches or merely the fuzzy reverb edge that so effectively graces Secret Colours’ sound. Following their 2010 self-titled debut, Secret Colours have come back to ride the psychedelia revival wave at its forefront. Peach is borderline polished when contrasted with the band’s earlier work—if you can even call shoe-gaze influenced psychedelia polished. It’s more polished in the sense that Peach has a refinement in sound and it’s evident that this band has found a type of aesthetic clarity.

This newfound refinement can perhaps be attributed to bringing in Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Gomez, Iron And Wine) as producer. With more ears on board and Deck’s guiding hand, Secret Colours are no longer allowing their musical influences of Blur, the Beatles, or the Black Angels to take over. With Peach Secret Colours have cast aside some of these more pronounced reference points in favor creating their own distinct sound. The pounding rhythm and hazy vocals heard on “Freak” create an air an urgency that makes the track a fitting first single. The pleading croons of “I wanna be your freak” by vocalist Tommy Evans are not merely wants but desperate desires. It’s followed by “Euphoric Collisions,” which finds a sweet balance between Britpop and psychedelic with its chipper chorus and an overload of squalling guitars.

Slow build-ups and explosive releases are no stranger to Secret Colours. This is most prominently displayed on “Blackhole” where we find the track’s synths and backing keys deliberately building up to a guitar solo that gives the longer track a timely end. We come face to face with this type of tension building again on “Faust,” which was last seen on the band’s EP 3. This track was surely the standout on their 2011 release, which consisted of five thematically scattered songs that desperately needed the retentive bound of a full length album. Nevertheless, “Faust” is tight and fleshes out Peach well. Its powerful, heavily distorted guitars give the album a Rocky-punch-in-the-air moment.

For a 21st century band aiming for a sound way before their time, the mounds of distortion and trippy guitars that embellishes the album are the furthest thing from gimmicky. With Peach these effects add to the album’s thematic purpose and become an integral additive that give the songs their meditative texture. “Me” fully attests to this, operating underneath a haunting wave of haze and fuzz accompanied with lush harmonies. Ending the album on a high and paying a visit to the ’90s, “Lust” encapsulates the sugary appeal of Britpop with its layered guitar work and tight bass lines. “Put me under the spell/Make me be myself” is repeated throughout the track, and it’s in that moment that that we can see Secret Colours have found themselves. - CMJ

A standout from the Chicago quartet's upcoming 'Peach' LP, due May 28

Secret Colours proudly identify themselves as "the bastard seed of '60s psychedelia and '90s Britpop bloodlines" on their Facebook page, and at the very least we can say this about the Chicago foursome: They know who they are. "Blackbird (Only One)," a shambling Technicolor groove off the self-assured outfit's upcoming sophomore album, Peach (out May 28), morphs into a feedback-drenched bliss-out that sounds like it could have come straight out of Manchester. Stream it below. - Spin

Secret Colours meet every prerequisite for a neo-psychedelic-rock band. Buzzing sitars? Check. A concise, instructive slogan ("Follow the Drone") in the vein of "Turn on, Tune In, Drop Out?" Yep. A sound that references the drug-addled haze of the Velvet Underground as well as Merseybeat and shoegaze? Indeed. As a bonus, the quintet -- together in its current itineration for barely a year -- brought Margaret Albright on board to bang tambourines, play keyboards and add sex appeal. None of it would matter if the Secret Colours' self-titled debut wanted for good songs. Expect a full-court press in 2011. - Chicago Tribune

Secret Colours
Secret Colours (self-released)
Unconcerned with trends, these kids fish from their favorite psyche and Britpop and keep the formula fresh. - Time Out Chicago

Lots of goodness on their self-titled debut and a maturity beyond their early 20-something years. What’s most fascinating to me is the way this record SOUNDS. I could date it to the early 90's but that would be a disservice to the obvious effort that went in to the recording process. I’ll just say I don’t know anybody else in Chicago that currently sounds quite like Secret Colours and we’ll just have to get to the bottom of why that is when they’re my guest on Local Anesthetic. - WXRT

When you make a habit of going to shows, talking to bands, reading local music blogs, and scanning the schedule of every half-decent club in town, it's always surprising—even a little disconcerting—when a record by a local band you've never even heard of before ends up in your lap. Doubly so when it's really good.

Neither I nor any of the music-savvy friends I asked had heard of Secret Colours until the band's publicist sent me a download of their new self-titled debut album a few weeks ago. Their initial incarnation—guitarist-vocalist Tommy Evans, drummer Justin Frederick, bassist Dylan Olson, and lead guitarist Dave Stach—came together about a year ago, and not till November 2009 did they arrive at their second and current lineup with the addition of Margaret Albright, who plays keys and tambourine and sings backup alongside Stach.

Chicago-based garage group Secret Colours’ two-part EP is called Positive Distractions, a title that pretty accurately describes the bouncy, buoyant and feel-good vibes that emanate from this release. (The first part came out February 4; the second part arrives April 29.) A self-proclaimed “bastard seed of ‘60s psychedelia and ‘90s Britpop bloodlines,” Secret Colours emerges as an unexpected combination of the crisp guitar of Tame Impala, the hazier melodies of the Beatles and the bass-heavy backgrounds of recent redux punks like Crocodiles or Ty Segall Band. This album follows their sophomore 2013 album, Peach, but takes a decisively different, more mature route.

The album covers a colossal amount of ground, ranging from light, bright strolling melodies like the opener, City Slicker, a song you might want to walk around to in a grungy part of town at sunset; or slower bass-heavy tunes like Heavy & Steady that sounds like the melodic equivalent of a detective novel, with mysterious falls and rises, some strange feedback effects and an air of ’60s psychedelia. Other guitar-heavy, vocally-woozy melodies like Take it Slow are strikingly sweet and familiar-sounding, lazily urging listeners to “Take it easy/Take it slow.” Then suddenly Into You combines the electro-funk sounds of groups like Fujiya & Miyagi with more catchy, conventional rock sounds. But behind every track is a consistent and irresistible combination of croony, dusky harmonies, twangy guitar chords and the vague feeling of meandering around a sun-drenched city.
With Positive Distractions, Secret Colours manages to produce a perfectly balanced neo-garage-pop album with subtle but electrifying surprises scattered throughout. Some songs propel you back into what sound like a classic, bubbly love song by the Kinks, while some, like Mrs. Bell throw in some contemporary, bouncy keyboard and synth effects. The album appropriately ends with the track Positive Distractions, a tune that sails you away into a sunset with light twinge of nostalgic harmonica and a bluesy guitar solo to bid you farewell. You’ll definitely be happy to get lost at sea with this vibrant, melodic journe - CMJ

See video link. - Pitchfork.Tv

Though it’s nothing too revolutionary, Secret Colours' eponymous debut is a nice chill-out record. The Chicago-based band's spaced-out harmonies and breathy vocals are meant as a nod to the shoegaze and psychedelic garage rock of the ‘60s, but unfortunately end up feeling like a flat-out imitation. Several of the cuts on Secret Colours are reminiscent of Dandy Warhols minus the energy and playfulness, though that style does work quite well on "Some Might Say" and "Chemical Swirl." Still, overall, the album has an interesting cowboy western feel to it. The clip-clopping woodblocks and rattlesnake shaker in "Chemical Swirl" are a fun touch and echoed in later tracks "Western" and "Sea," and the lazily wandering guitar riffs of "Western" are foreshadowed in the melody of "Love." This is a solid debut, but hopefully the band will assert a bit more of themselves into their future work instead of drawing so heavily from their influences. - Venus Zine

While Secret Colours may be carving out their own space in the Chicago music scene they have a solid asset in their superb self-titled debut album, a polite mix of psychedelic, fuzzed out guitar accompanied by a whispered vocalist, Tommy Evans. For all their confessions of fondness for The Black Angels they do well in holding back, by not being coarse and bombastic. Secret Colours finds gold in playing it restrained for the most part. The music here is mostly laid back way, think T.Rex crossed with certain aspects of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's gentler material, namely from Howl. Secret Colours as an album maintains a spacey quality, at times bridging blistering guitar licks with cooing vocals and subtle acoustic guitar. Unabashedly, it plays like really good make out music from a lost decade, rich with an older music texture and it could be mistaken for being recorded across the pond. It could also be misread as a copy of a copy of a copy. That may be true, but in this case it matters little, as Secret Colours, make affectionate and fine rock music. Secret Colours may be a by-product of times gone by and bands alike (Oasis, Brian Jonestown Massacre) but bless 'em for doing so. They've recorded a solid of album songs that burns at a slow pace and curls up alongside like a promising date. - Bootleg Magazine

Now the obvious critique I'm sure most people would offer in regards to a band like Chicago's Secret Colours would be: lack of originality, plain and simple. But since this is tasty psych/garage stuff, I'm not even going to waste my time with any of that bullshit. If your idea of a party involves "LSD, Ecstasy, and DMT" (I'm quoting the lyrics here) rather than say, getting plowed on Coors Light and watching UFC, you'll probably groove on this, even though you've kind of heard it before.

Sometimes execution can trump innovation, and when I throw this on, the expertly blissed out arrangements probe their way right into my temporal lobe and send me off to the land of celestial orange sunshine. It's a happy place with sandy beaches and telepathic one-eyed sex goddesses begging me inwardly to, "Ride on the backs of the owls." But maybe that's just my trip. I bet these dudes ride like classy old convertibles around the cosmos searching for space 'tang. You'll find it, bros; its right around the corner. They've got the champagne on ice.

Wait, what the fuck was I rambling on about there? Oh yeah, spacing out listening to this shit. Ground control to Major Tom. What is it about guitar fuzz? Some of these songs could go on forever, and it wouldn't bug me much. I guess I could dig on some more electronic bleeps and blorps here and there to shake things up, but other than that, this shit is solid. Solid gold. - Redefine Magazine

At times it seems like one genre explodes while another fades, but it is more likely that you become more aware of certain genres at certain times. For the last few months I have been listening closely to one of the genres that are becoming more and more dominant here in Chicago, and that genre is psychedelic rock. One of my favorite new bands in that genre is Secret Colours. Tommy Evans, Dave Stach, Dylan Olson, Justin Frederick, and Margaret Albright blend late '60s psychedelia with '90s newgaze to create a forceful and compelling sound. A great example of their sound would the cover of The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows" that the band released for free this week.

Secrect Colours' self-titled debut album was released earlier this month digitally through bandcamp, and they are celebrating the release this Saturday (Aug. 14th) at Beat Kitchen with the like minded band Panda Riot and Geronimo. The show starts at 10pm and tickets are $10. - Gapers Block

Secret Colours are far from what they used be when they released their debut LP, Peach, last May. But the two remaining original members, vocalist/guitarist Tommy Evans and drummer Justin Frederick, embraced the struggles and changes that come with being a six-piece rock band. Consisting now of only four members, Secret Colours is back with their second single, “City Slicker," off of the first of two upcoming EPs, Positive Distractions Part I & II. Despite their slimmer look, City Slicker is bursting at the seams with a sense of fearlessness, filling out speakers like never before. At the core of this track is simple and intelligent songwriting, but good look getting there under hard-hitting layers of meticulously crafted psychedelic vocals and huge guitar tones. - Impose Magazine

We suspect that the decision of bandleader Tommy Evans to strip the band back into a 4-piece with drummer Justin Frederick and new members Eric Hehr on bass and Mike Novak on guitar had a lot to do with the band's new direction. We'll be talking with the band closer to the release date about this leap in their sound, but they released another teaser single from the album over the weekend and we think it's a nice example of the band's growth. It's a bouncy, soulful little jam that manages to nod to the band's psychedelic origins without being held back by a slavish worship to those influences. It's also a perfect single to pop in your earbuds while jauntily sauntering down the street on, say, a warm afternoon with the hint of spring causing eyes to wink and wander back and forth at the beautiful people you pass on your stroll. - The Chicagoist

Imagine you're a Ronald Reagan in 1981, looking at your "To Do" list, just about to enact a series of "trickle down" economic policies. Your goal, consciously or subconsciously, is to ensure that this constitutional republic we call a democracy be transformed into a Corporatocracy. you know that all the burdens of self governance are too much for the common simpleton to bear. You reach for the signature jar of jelly beans on your desk. The sound of them plinking against the glass as you grope for a choice bean makes you smile, the sound of modernity. You'll usher in a new era of cheap consumer goods. Maybe you'll invade Grenada and really stick it to those poor island communists.

Oh you chuckle at that as you pop a bean into your mouth and bite down, but it's not watermelon or very cherry. A puff of sweet smoke belches from it inside your mouth and you cough. Flailing for the secret service call button you knock over you favorite autographed portrait of Arnold Schwarzenegger and try to scream, but only colors come out.

Suddenly, everything has changed, you feel a great weight about you as you wonder why high-fructose corn syrup is in everything. You feel unsure for the first time and something that can only be described as empathy. Yet you're calm and filled with joy as you take your "To Do" list and erase it with colors from your mouth saying, "Well, toodleoo."

Imagine that. For some reason I did while listening to this new record by Chicago psyche group, Secret Colours. It's not going to change anyone's world view but it might make you trip out a little. They're psyche in the vein of Brian Jonestown Massacre or The Warlocks with a serious dose of the Stone Roses. Anton Alfred Newcombe meets Ian Brown kind of thing. Check out this track called "Jellybean" for the forthcoming self-titled album. - IFC

Here’s another great find from my emails last week. Chicago’s Secret Colours has satisfied my recent hunger for some warm, psychedelic jams to compliment the sunny days I’ve been seeing. Think Black Angels and Dead Meadow as good starting points for explaining their polished sound. The debut album is so powerful that you might have to take each song one by one. Of course you’ll have to wait until August 3rd to do so anyway. In the mean time, here’s a tasty morsel called “Jellybean” to get you started. - Ears of the Beholder

Chicago's Secret Colours wear their influences well. The band nails a sound that pays homage to the greats of the 1960's psychedelic garage rock sound, joining the sonic ranks of The Raveonettes, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and the Brian Jonestown Massacre (I'd even say they remind me a bit of the Jesus and Mary Chain). It's rough enough to be garage but it also drifts into waves of psychedelia, just so, in the best ways. The band also manages to squeeze in bits of country and shoegaze into its sound. I could try to hammer out a more direct description, but as the band says on their MySpace, "Whatever you hear, you're probably right."

The band is independently releasing their self-titled debut LP August 3rd, but you can hear it right now below.

And if anyone's trying to find the proper soundtrack for a western, I believe this band would be a good choice for scoring it. Hear the proof yourself with the aptly titled "Western". - Mixtape Muse

Chicago five piece retro band, with retro sound, retro artwork and modern web2.0 behaviour (twitter and facebook and all that stuff).
They offer their comming album not for download, sadly, but as teaser a full stream on bandcamp.
And that's very nice too.
You will get a polished version of the mentioned sixties psych/garage pop stuff. But that's ok, it sounds original, well arranged and good. Melodic and laid back. Smoke pot, watch retro porn on super 8 or observe your lavalamp. - Dying For Bad Music

What would west coast pop art experimentalism sound like filtered through an industrial midwestern prism? No clue, but perhaps Secret Colours can shine some overt light on that. Herein lies some beautifully executed dusty, hypnotic psychedelic garage pop meditations that belong in the same conversation as Dungen and Dead Meadow. The newly minted Chicago quintet channels the finest in the greats of late ’60s psychedelia, ’90s newgaze reverence, and a touch of driving, bucolic, no frills RnR straight from the greasiest of garages. Secret Colours’ true-to-canon psychedelic grit can, at its most beautiful, help you to turn on, tune in, and drop out. But at its most desolate and evil, Secret Colours make Black Angels look like a church fish fry (with much respect to Alex Maas and the gang). Secret Colours are bad dudes, and in a day and age where Anton Newcombe is making fuckin’ dance beats and Syd Barrett was long assimilated by the Borg, Secret Colours are a Kodachrome tinted breathe of fresh air.

The band releases their eponymous effort independently on August 3rd, and may be stopping near you this summer to fold your brain into a origami fortune teller. The fortune teller says to keep a watchful eye on Secret Colours - The Decibel Tolls best new music right here, hombre. Secret Colours previews the album June 11th at Chicago’s Lincoln Hall, and you can ascertain additional facts on the ol’ MySpaces. Amazing art on that dude as well. This is the type of work that straight up humbles my shit as a designer: - The Decibel Tolls

The dudes over at The Decibel Tolls just turned me on to Secret Colours, a band that creates 60's style psychedelic garage jams with such perfection that it's impossible to ignore. They're self-releasing their self-titled album on August 3, and you can go ahead and take home a couple of lovely tunes from it below. Keep your eye on this one; it's an absolute must have. - Get Off the Coast

Secret Colours = Tommy Evans, Dave Stach, Dylan Olson, Justin Frederick and Margaret Albright from Chicago, IL. In their bio, they are perfectly described as “late ’60s psychedelia, ’90s newgaze reverence, and a touch of driving, bucolic, no frills RnR straight from the greasiest of garages. Secret Colours at their most beautiful help you to turn on, tune in, and drop out.” I’m all for the ’60 sound revival and I think that Secret Colours fit right in to that sound style. You can listen to their entire S/T album now HERE. Out on 8/3. (track via The Decibel Tolls) - LA is the new NY

I spent the better part of last night soaking in the chimerical sounds of Chicago’s Secret Colours at Lexington’s Cosmic Charlie’s.

Exceptional.

Yes, I had my Dandy Warhol moments. Inexperience and influences aside … they are on the edge of something uncommon. - What I Heard Today

Chicago’s 60s garage pop newcomers Secret Colours are all set to release their debut album in August and if latest track Jellybean is anything to go by it should be one to watch out for. Sweeping 90s shoegaze sprinkled with summery 60s psychedelic garage, mmm…. - Beach Tapes

Local favorites from Geneva, Illinois Secret Colours took the stage next. The performance was to be their album release show for their self titled debut but as we found out during our interview the group had recently hired a publicist who wanted more advance time to give the album proper promotion. As a compromise the band can still sell the new release at shows but it won’t be available digitally or online until August 3.

Secret Colours are heavily influenced by the neopsychedelic movement of the late 90s and most commonly reference The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. SC also mentioned Spaceman 3, The Black Angels, and The Stone Roses influences. The band plays the music authentically as if they came up during the aforementioned psychedelic revival. Guitarist and singer Tommy Evans is the primary song writer and the group formed around his original demos. The band is very aware of their groups aesthetics. With perfectly messy hair and vintage Ray Bans. There’s no denying this band is hip and is poised to be successful with all the psych fans out there... - Secret Note

Todays song is Jellybean by Secret Colours which sounds like Brian Jonestown Massacre on Prozac. - Nylon Blogs

Here's a new psychedelic band from Chicago. You can't buy the album yet (their bandcamp page says August 3 2010 on it so I assume that is when it will be released) but you can listen to the whole album here on this post or on their bandcamp page. Secret Colours [on Bandcamp] - Music Goodies

Here's hoping that this wasn't posted already. Psychedelic garage rock from Chicago.

What would west coast pop art experimentalism sound like filtered through an industrial midwest prism? No clue, but perhaps Secret Colours can shine some light on that. The newly minted Chicago quintet channels the finest in the greats of late '60s psychedelia, '90s newgaze reverence, and a touch of driving, bucolic, no frills RnR straight from the greasiest of garages. Secret Colours at their most beautiful help you to turn on, tune in, and drop out. Secret Colours are bad dudes, and in a day and age where Anton Newcombe is making dance beats and Syd Barrett was long assimilated by the Borg, Secret Colours are a Kodachrome tinted breath of fresh air.


Secret Colours are Tommy Evans, Dave Stach, Dylan Olson, Justin Frederick, and Margaret Albright. They release their eponymous effort independently on August 3rd, and may be stopping near you this summer to fold your brain into an origami fortune teller. The fortune teller says to keep a watchful eye on Secret Colours.

- Doomed To Be Stoned In A Sludge Swamp

Los Secret Colours creaan un psych-pop con un sonido de las bandas de los 70s y principios de los años 60, con similitudes a The Raveonettes, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Brian Jonestown Massacre y The Jesus and Mary Chain.

Su nuevo LP homónimo se embala con este estilo y es un buen ejemplo de lo que hace a Secret Colours una bandas notable.

Su álbum es maravillosamente retro en sonido y estilo, abraza la psicodelia con los brazos abiertos y los oídos sensibles. Desde nebulosos viajes de drogas hasta canciones de amor.

Un disco impresionante!! - Indieland Mag

Secret Colours create classic psych-pop music that has the sound the bands of the 60s and early 70s. Their new self-titled LP is packed with this style and “Jellybean” is a prime example of what makes Secret Colours a more than noteworthy up-and-coming band. Dreamy, melodic vocals front an attack of wild cymbals and echoing guitars that create a wall of sound. There’s a major emphasis on percussion that not only fits but enhances the psych-pop sound; it’s safe to say that without it, Secret Colors would not nearly be as impressive. Still, each part adds significantly to the whole. “Jellybean” is the full realization of the heritage 1960s and early 70s groups bestowed upon our modern era of psychedelic pop music. - Fense Post

Il y a celles et ceux qui nous avons vu défiler mais que nous avons omis de mentionner… Rubrique, qui chaque semaine, en quelques titres, retrace l’actualité musicale. - Delicious Scopitone

6. Secret Colours - Love (Self Released)
Great track from a superb debut album from the Chicago band which will be released in early August but if you can't wait until then you can listen to the entire thing at their bandcamp page. - Burning World

Chicago psych-rockers Secret Colours are getting ready to self-release their new self-titled LP on August 3. You can stream the whole shebang over at their Bandcamp page, but if you want something to take home with you, try the paisley psychedelia of "Jellybean". (via Get Off the Coast) - Pitchfork