It’s almost scary to think that Blusom may not have happened. Coming together in an experimental fashion in 2001, Mike Behrenhausen, previously from Maraca Five-O, and Jme White from Acrobat Down had been collaborating in the proverbial bedroom project. But they never had any intention of the music leaving the room. After circulating songs around town and to friends in the Denver community, Blusom evolved two years later into their debut release, Go Slowly All The Way Round The Outside.
Now on their second album, Bluxom have taken the songwriting rule book and chucked it out the window of their Jetson’s mobile/1969 Skylark hybrid, complete with a mixed tape of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Kraftwerk and Red House Painters, and an in-dash Nintendo setup. Pennsylvania factory samples collide with pillow soft acoustics and Beach Boys harmonies. Guitar licks slide down the soft rock days of the ‘70s on “The Ticks: Tick, Tick” but the vocals and overall indie vibe is what keeps it fresh and current. Then a lyrical shot is taken on “Versus Nightclubbing,” which just may have been written after taking a Spill down Market Street on a Friday night.
Not only does this duo keep you wondering what’s around the next curve, but they excel at every eclectic turn they make. The production is fabulous and seamless (and was recorded in White’s Thin Air Studios here in Denver), making perfect sense of the metallic noise of knife sliding over guitar strings, water streaming out of a 5 gallon jug, and the empty thump of a drum.
You can listen to “Midnights and Mornings” and “Mayday” online at www.blusom.com. The band has their CD Release Party this Thursday, June 9 at Hi-Dive, playing with Januar and We’re Wolves.
