Interesting fact:Davis-based band Buildings Breeding was never meant to be a real band.According to the band’s biography,guitarist and vocalist Christapher Larsen began with song lyrics that were originally sent as love letters to girlfriend andfuture fellow band member Melanie Glover while she was overseas.
When the band finally did materialize as more than just a façade with its own MySpace profile,it wasgreeted with a warm reception,first locally and eventually nationally.After signing withDavis-grown record label Mushpot Records,the band performed at last year’s South by Southwest Festival and had a song featured on the MTV show “Human Giant.“
Offering an endearing mix of surf pop and indie rock isColors Bent to Seasons,a five track E.P.that was released in January2008as a precursor to the upcoming full-length albumA Great Divorce.
Starting offColorswith an easy and mellow spirit is “Lowest Light” followed by “Rushing Red,” two tracks that bring to mindthe wistfully airy mood of twee-pop group Camera Obscura.Influences from Belle & Sebastian are also present.Similar to the Scottish band, “Rushing Red” features a charmingly playful exchangebetweenGlover’s light vocalsand Larsen’s slightly more sinister lyrics with lines such as “Cut up the senses and peel back a layer of my skin/I’m rushing red.“
If the first two tracks (which will appear in the upcomingA Great Divorce) are more appropriate for easygoing summer nights, “Storyline” and “The Ones We Love” take a turn away from the carefree to the darker and more aggressive.Here is where the melodies match the lines.Featuring lyrics like “I watched the body move while part of me was sawn in half/You left me bleeding on my back,” the former is worthy of any angst-riddenbreak-upscene as it plays to an equally emotive guitar. “The Ones We Love” ends the EP on a dramatic note as Larsen belts out hislastlines before the song fades into just drums and guitars.
Buildings Breeding was formed in2006,andthe band consists of vocalist and guitarist Larsen,Glover on drums and vocals,guitarist and UCDavis student Evan Hart and Chris Vogel on bass.They will performFridayat the Turtle House at8p.m.with Body or Brain and Week Long Project.For more information on the band,visit buildingsbreeding.com.
–Rachel Filipinas
For fans of:Belle& Sebastian,Camera Obscura,Rogue Wave
Give these tracks a listen:
“Rushing Red“
“Lowest Light“
Lyrics to “Lowest Light“
Adding the blade to the pieces
Feelings come with each dissection
I am the pieces that never had aligned
Taking the rhyme with the reason
Syllables that mask the structures
I am the speech that never could decide
And which way will it lie in the lowest light?
To cast a shadow
I feel it might survive in the lowest light
There’s colors that bend in the seasons
Many will see it come in black and white
They’re not seeing what’s in between the lines
There’s beauty that comes in the seasons
Beauty that bares the softest colors
I cannot see the beauty in your fight
