Painted Flowers waltzed onto the scene with impressive dexterity and a slew of gloriously retro releases which has quickly set them and their vaguely modern analogue sound comfortably apart.
Backing up their latest vintage visualizers, which painted a colour-soaked, wild-haired, deftly composed image of the band, their debut EP Walk It Loose is here to quickly hook any stragglers who may have missed them.
Painted Flowers channel their influences heavily and they’re not shy about it – Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones and Lou Reed all rear their proverbial heads throughout the album, but somehow between the familiar strains they carve out their very own, neo-retro niche for themselves.
Thematically the album guides you by the hand through a mid-century rock ‘n’ roll night out. “Intro” opens things on a textured, percussive, atypically cluttered note, before “She Moves In Melodies” really kicks things off with almost hesitant stream-of-consciousness lyrics laying out an ode to the mysterious girl on the dancefloor.
Jazzy inflections make their mark in the narrative “Musings Of The Traveling Man” and energy-soaked “She’s Got Soul”, while “If The Sun’s Coming Up” closes things with a refreshing acoustic ode to the morning after.
But it’s frontman Elio Moavero’s wanton vocalism which really forms the centerpiece of the album. Mostly monotone and half-spoken, he drops whisky-dipped verses with a sly adroitness. It’s gritty and subversively sleek in equal measure – a delightfully dedicated throwback held in the palm of millennial musicians.
