Photo: Yasmin Sodeau
Info: By far one of my favourite Irish bands of 2018, Dublin's Classic Yellow are expert at making classic (yes) 60's and 70's bop-rock sound like it should in the 21st century. Previous EP Ophelia and double A-Side 'His Master's Voice' / 'Cheese From Wisconsin' are both delicious and should be checked out if you haven't heard em yet.
New double A-side 'Mondays Don't Mean Anything' / 'Paper Diamond' is a simply delightful addition to their thus far small discography. Interestingly the vocal has a very Britpop hue, a little bit Jarvis Cocker, a little bit Damon Albarn early-Blur phase. However, musically, it's old school credentials are on both sleeves. Par example, the guitar riff at 2:02 on 'Mondays Don't Mean Anything' has a solid psych-rock character, as does the mini whammy that follows it, Electric Prunes and Strawberry Alarm Clock spring to mind, but emphasis is on the contemporary veneer the band have placed on their sound.
'Paper Diamond' is slick AF, a dirty, caustic and delightfully sleazy chunk of garage-tinged blues-rock, the bass here is fucking amazing, and the guitar solo between 1:30 and 1:37 has Funkadelic's Maggot Brain written all over it, in particular track 'Super Stupid' from the 1971 LP. Classic Yellow then pop out the kaleidoscope and takes us through a whirl of prog-sounding escapism, and once again, the lead guitar provides such a pleasurable blues-rock jam. I think that despite my inherent bias towards their sound(s) which come from the same place as my bread and butter favourite musical era, that Classic Yellow are beyond an 'homage' band to old world sounds and could justifiably swallow up a large number of new fans should they get the publicity they deserve.
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/ClassicYellow_
