Mixing the psychedelic pop of the 60s with a more orchestrated baroque sound, The Soft Skin is four sunny tracks by Philadelphia’s most promising pop band in quite a while. Brown Recluse began as duo Timothy Meskers and Mark Saddlemire, and ultimately grew to six individuals. Within The Soft Skin, you’ll hear the plush instrumentation, from a focus on keys and jangle guitars in opener “Rotten Tangerines” to the trumpet feature in closer “Contour And Context”.

The Soft Skin is good all around, but where Brown Recluse shines brightest is on the sunnier, more upbeat tunes like “Night Train” and “Rainy Saturday”. The former capitalizes on a echoing delay in the guitar and also features a trumpet. The latter is the album topper, entirely cheerful, yet laid-back enough for warm summer afternoon – or, better yet, a rainy Saturday afternoon indoors by a warm fire.

Brown Recluse, like many bands on the Slumberland roster, shows immense promise. And, true to these artists, they already have a few great releases under their belt. The Soft Skin is yet another to fit this categorization.

Brown Recluse: Night Train [mp3]

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Slumberland Records [12" Single, 2009]

1. Rotten Tangerines
2. Night Train
3. Rainy Saturday
4. Contour And Context