Album of the Week: The Big Pink’s history lesson

The Big Pink: A Brief History of Love

I liked The Big Pink’s full-length debut record, A Brief History of Love, more than I expected, especially after not being too moved by first-leaked tracks “Velvet” and “Too Young to Love,” which was soon followed up with the hard-to-outplay brilliance of “Dominos.” It’s a strangely evocative record, reminding me of first indie-fuzz bands like My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain. So it’s fitting The Big Pink are signed to 4AD Records, a label that had its heyday back in the late 1980s with darker bands at the edges of the mainstream, one John Hughes movie soundtrack away from stardom. (Their record covers, so far all with photos of naked women, also fit an earlier grungy, David Carson-inspired aesthetic.) It’s not the most groundbreaking record, mostly consisting of slow-burners in the style of “Velvet” (with the exception of “Dominos” and the brighter “At War With the Sun”), but I appreciated taking the trip back through time. B

The Big Pink: Dominos (from Stereogum)
from the album A Brief History of Love
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