Perfect Disguise

Happy New Year!

The excellent Paisley Umbrella blog on MySpace has included Perfect Disguise as one of its top ten albums of 2008. Inexplicably they/he/she still seem to think that The Contrast are from Middlesborough but that it a minor detail. The blog originally reviewed the album back in February 2008 and gave it a suitably glowing review. It is really nice when webites pick up on stuff and promote it off their own back. It shows that the material is getting over to the audience and the resultant fans are working to spread the word.

Here is what Paisley Umbrella had to say:

Middleborough’s The Contrast occupy their own space. It’s hard to say what they sound like. One hears traces of early REM, Tom Petty, and Paul Weller with their six-string Rickenbacker sound which is so central to the music, but the song timing is odd at times (especially evident on previous releases like Forget To Tell The Time, the song structures different, and on top of that, it’s highly polished powerpop. The result is that The Contrast are incredibly distinctive and don’t really “sound” like anyone else, but the music remains catchy and accessible. The Contrast is well off the beaten path.

Paisley Umbrella blog’s top ten albums of 2008…

I’d like to extend my thanks on behalf of The Contrast to all of you out there that have worked hard on supporting the band in 2008 whether you are a member of  Wicked Cool staff, an enthusiastic fan, or someone that just loved the tracks that you heard and had to purchase them. 2008 was another good year and 2009 is already shaping up to be a cracker. Keep the faith and keep letting everyone know about the best band in the world (and England too).

Perfect Disguise

The Out of the Box play list on New York’s classic rock station Q104.3 features “Caught in a Trap” from 2005′s “Forget to Tell the Time” and the more recent compilation “Perfect Disguise“. The track is standing tall amongst some real heavy hitters on the show. I would have paid money to hear The Contrast coming after Metallica on the radio. The full play list is below along with a link to the website of the station.

The Complete 11/2/08 “Out Of The Box” Playlist
Guns ‘N Roses-”Chinese Democracy”
Oasis-”The Shock Of The Lightning”
Fionn Olochlainn (NYC)-”Walk My Way”
Supersuckers-”What It Takes”
Metallica-”The Day That Never Comes”
The Contrast-”Caught In A Trap”
Black Water Rising (Brooklyn)-”Brother Go On”
Motorhead-”Rock Out”
The Fireman (Paul McCartney)-”Sing The Changes”
Scott Weiland-”Missing Cleveland”
Happy Anarchy (Staten Island)-”Personal Judas”
Ray Lamontagne-”You Are The Best Thing”

Q104.3 – New York’s Classic Rock.

The Contrast, Perfect Disguise: Introducing the Contrast ****
While the Contrast haven’t moved enough merchandise either at home in the U.K. or across the pond in the States to truly merit a “greatest-hits” album, Little Steven Van Zandt is enough of a fan to think they deserve one anyway, and one or two spins of Perfect Disguise: Introducing the Contrast, compiled for Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool Records label, is enough to convince nearly anyone that the guy has a valid point.Featuring choice cuts from the Contrast’s first five albums, Perfect Disguise: Introducing the Contrast is a near-perfect amalgamation of jangle pop melodies, indie rock attitude, and new wave guitar heroics (if Tom Verlaine and Peter Buck had a baby, the kid would play a lot like Contrast brainchild David Reid). These 14 songs don’t exactly shy away from the band’s obvious influences, but the energy and power of the group’s attack are fresh and invigorating, and “Caught in a Trap,” “Believe,” and “Disconnected” really do sound like hit singles, with irresistible hooks and choruses to die for. It’s arguable if this collection really needed two versions of both “Mystery” and “Perfect Disguise,” but the songs show enough variety in electric and acoustic form to show just how strong these tunes are and that they can take on different shapes and still shine brightly. Most fans of smart pop and contemporary garage rock probably aren’t all that familiar with the Contrast (at least not in the United States), and Perfect Disguise is an ideal introduction to a fine, woefully underrated band that truly delivers the goods.
~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide

The Contrast, Perfect Disguise: Introducing the Contrast (Wicked Cool Records)

This guitar-worshipping quartet released their first full-length on Rainbow Quartz in 2000, a year or so after forming, and have studiously submitted four albums since then. Perfect Disguise culls from the first four and adds a few new and unreleased tracks for good measure.

The Contrast are not a group likely to make you sell all of your worldly possessions and pursue the RocknRoll Life, but they will serve to remind you that there’s a lot of good music that goes years without getting any sort of the attention it deserves.

If you don’t like big guitars, this band is not yours. There are driving leads (“Mask”) and rhythm growls straight out of Fables of the Reconstruction (“Can’t Stand the Light”) and the melodies soar, even when melancholia takes the wheel. Towering choruses are the modus operandi, but nothing ever seems to eclipse David Reid’s lyrics. While it would be unfair to compare Reid to Peter Case or Paul Westerberg – they are three distinct writers with distinct gifts – his lyrics tend to recall a less bitter Westerberg, conveying the same palpable disgust of the teenage wasteland and all of its perpetrators.

No single territory of Reid’s vocal range goes unexplored, and his tone is clean without sounding trained, which is emblematic of the band itself. The Contrast are unabashed pop-smiths, not as calculated as Spoon and closer to REM than Big Star (the REM comparison is obvious but unavoidable) with a more an adequate tutelage of Plimsouls style. They have the sound they want, lean into it all the way, and their refined instincts keep the canvas from wearing thin. They may not blow your mind, but they’ll serve as a reminder that rocking pop music is always scratching at the dismal surface of the mainstream.

The Contrast could be the first great 21st century power-pop band, and with any luck, this compilation will help them reach the audience who are going to feel a little cheated when they find that the great new music they’ve been waiting for has been waiting for them since the turn of the millennium. – Chris Henderson

houstonpress.com
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/rocks/2008/04/reverberations_amplified_heat.php

Technorati Tags: The Contrast

8. The Contrast – Caught In A Trap

Another English band, The Contrast were formed back in 1999 and have since released six albums. Describing themselves as a guitar power pop band, the band released last November an excellent compilation entitled ‘Perfect Disguise : Introducing The Contrast’, which is an excellent start for anybody interested in hearing more of this band. Available on their site along with a t-shirt for $16, that should be everybody with an interest in hearing good music.

[From Thundercrack Playlist]

The Contrast “Perfect Disguise”

Wicked Cool CD – www.wickedcoolrecords.com

Almost ignored in their home country, Peterborough’s The Contrast have been quietly producing classy, stylish guitar pop for a while now. An REM comparison immediately springs to mind; Reid is not a plagiarist or imitator – far from it – but his wistful vocal and the well done backing vocals are the connection to early REM, or, to be precise, to bands who inhabited similar musical territory. The UK’s Harbour Kings (previously Rollin’ Thunder) and the USA’s Jolene spring to mind. What all the aforementioned bands share is an ability to create songs that are “strangely strange but still normal”. The 16 tunes here have plenty of soaring melodic choruses and hooks aplenty, but without being at all “experimental” or “arty” they sidestep conventional song structures and patterns, heading off in unpredictable directions that never seem jerky or too clever. The title tune, ‘Believe’ and ‘How To Tell’ are cases in point; beguiling and adult power pop for the 21st century. There are some stand-alone pop songs here but the album works best as a whole, allowing the songs to blend into one another. I can’t always guess where David Reid is coming from, but I just know I like it!

– Phil Suggitt – Shindig magazine (March-April issue 2008)

The Contrast, Perfect Disguise (out this week): I have raved about this British band before, but this compilation provides the ideal introduction to their unique sonic delights. Their music clearly pays homage to the ’60s, but it doesn’t really sound like any particular British band of the period, nor is it classifiable as garage-rock, because singer David Reid’s voice is too smooth and cultured. But the contrast between the crackling guitar riffs and velvety vocal tones is immensely appealing, and the intense hookiness of the tunes enhances matters. My closest comparison is the Bevis Frond minus the long guitar extrapolations, but that’s so obscure that I’d just advise you to sample a few tracks and see if you’re not instantly captivated.
– Ken Barnes – USA Today – Feb 2008
http://blogs.usatoday.com/listenup/

I received a copy of Perfect Disguise: Introducing the Contrast almost a week before the official US release, so I was pretty excited to review a release that was not yet available. They’re a great guitar driven powerpop four piece from Middleborough (Editor comments: actually that’s Peterborough), Cambridgeshire, UK. This release is full of shimmery guitars, great melodies that are unique, short songs, all really catchy stuff.

Perfect Disguise is full of great songs. From the opening “Mystery 1″ starts off with a catchy guitar riff that tells you to pay attention to them, “Can’t Stand the Light” has a slower feel with some great jangle guitars and a few other surprises that you’re going to have to listen to it to find out. The Contrast are a band that have combined the best elements of different bands into something their own. Off the top of my head, I can think of The Buzzcocks, The Bangles, The Plimsouls, and The Stranglers with Tom Petty and Paul Weller writing the songs together, with a good touch of The Smithereens. With great influences, the work retains its own and doesn’t sound like anyone else because great powerpop relies on the tried and true: Simple chords, great guitar hooks that get you interested, some great harmonies, and a beat that you can’t help nodding your head along with in the least, as well as obvious references to bands that came before. However, almost every song on Perfect Disguise is unique and memorable. Most of the songs will have something different in them that makes you stop and listen, from the higher pitched guitar bridge on “Caught In a Trap” to the occasional voice only song closings like “Ansaphone”. Lead singer David Reid’s vocals are really hard to place, but have a deep, resonant quality that although quite different both in tone and range, rises above a foundation of great music where each player has their own distinction and lead, much like Roger Daltrey’s voice emerged as a competitor to his fellow bandmates during the height of The Who…

…Perfect Disguise: Introducing The Contrast lives up to its title. The songs are mostly older and repackaged since they didn’t get their due when they were originally released, but because of their lack of exposure and new release on a record label with a lot more recognition, this signals “The Contrast has arrived. Hear for the first time what you’ve been missing.”

Perfect Disguise

Perfect Disguise: Introducing the Contrast (Wicked Cool Records, 2007)

1. Mystery #1Mystery #1
2. MaskMask
3. Unfair GameUnfair Game
4. World’s So DifferentWorld’s So Different
5. Can’t Stand The LightCan’t Stand The Light
6. Caught In A TrapCaught In A Trap
7. George ZippGeorge Zipp
8. Perfect DisguisePerfect Disguise
9. Perfect Disguise (Acoustic)Perfect Disguise (Acoustic)
10. BelieveBelieve
11. How To TellHow To Tell
12. AnsaphoneAnsaphone
13. 57
14. Big Dark Nowhere
15. Disconnected
16. Mystery #1 (Acoustic)