The Brightest Room

2020 release ** "Essential and colorful. The Brightest Room's cover art is perfectly in sync with the music of the Milanese quartet. This spartan rigor is also evident in the choice of titles for their second album, which entrust a single word with the burden of describing an entire song. Run features fourteen of them, all oozing with impeccable melodies and adorned with typically "English" guitars (from small, amateur tailors like Another Sunny Day or Field Mice to the exquisite stitching of Jazz Butcher and the Smiths) and shaken by that signature velvet-like nervousness of groups like Modern Lovers or the Feelies, who found their stylistic breakthrough in 1980s England. Brightest Room's sound is essential, as I was saying, but not at all impoverished. Without unnecessary paraphernalia displayed on the shelves, just guitars, bass, drums, and an (excellent) Englishman guide the band in a brilliant and homogeneous, vigorous and invigorating work. Full of quills like those shown in Box, Neptune, and Away, but ready to be petted. Like certain pets that never quite enjoy being tamed."