Bright Yellow Bright Orange

Bright Yellow Bright Orange, the second album since the Go-Betweens' reformation in 2000 (the first being 2000's Friends of Rachel Worth), can't escape being thought of as the icing on the cake of a relationship already consummated. Like a couple that have already gone through the fires of marriage and divorce only to come together again, the strangest torments have already passed. While Rachel Worth managed to conjure some of the old Go-Betweens spirit (a feat and expectation that mustn't have been easy), details such as indie rock touches from Sam Coomes (Quasi) on keyboards and heavy-handed production from Portland's Larry Crane put them in a pose they obviously weren't accustomed to.

The album also suffered from the loss of their secret weapon (and definer of their early classic sound), drummer Lindy Morrison, who was replaced by a pretty-good-but-not-perfect-choice, Sleater-Kinney's Janet Weiss. For an album dominated with some of the most uptempo pop ever written for a Go-Betweens' record, Rachel Worth's sleeper gem, and the gateway into Bright Yellow Bright Orange, was "He Lives My Life," a Forster ballad of unrequited love. This song, despite its somber tone, was the only one on the album that made you feel like you were listening to the 'real thing' again.

Bright Yellow Bright Orange is a much better album than Friends of Rachel Worth primarily because it largely abandons the formers' modern rock ambitions for a reflective and more natural folk-rock sound. Veterans of Forsters' solo work (and fellow Aussies), Adele Pickvance (bass) and Glenn Thompson (drums -- still no Lindy Morrison!) just seem to 'get' the Go-Betweens much more than the Portland crew. The rambling confessional "Too Much of One Thing" faithfully resurrects "Lily, Rosemary, And The Jack Of Hearts" from one of Forster's favorite albums, Dylan's Blood on the Tracks. McLennan's melancholy piano ballad, "Unfinished Business", revisits the desolation of "Dusty in Here" from the first Go-Betweens album. Both exude a natural breath and light lost in Rachel Worth's slickness.

And while the upbeat tracks from Rachel Worth are delightful, they seem cloying in comparison to those on Bright Yellow. This is because Rachel Worth showed the Go-Betweens toying with a 'sound', whereas Bright Yellow is simply their own thing. Written for the Princess of Monaco, Forster's marvelous, Television-haunted "Caroline and I" harkens back to the nostalgia of an earlier Go-Betweens' classic, "Spring Rain." The equally impressive "Mrs. Morgan," a song about a town that is angry with its local fortune teller, shows McLennan reflecting on the consequences of being a seer. Enchanting male/female back-up vocals recall the sound of some of his most classic Go-Betweens' offerings "Bachelor Kisses" and "Streets of your Town."

Like Friends of Rachel Worth before it though, Bright Yellow, Bright Orange is bogged with about 30% filler. The Go-Betweens have never been consistent, and 20 years going, they still can't 'really play' their guitars (thankfully). So can anyone explain why this release is better than the recent efforts of some of today's best bands?

Jonathan Donaldson
Junkmedia Magazine Review

One of the many things that I love about Forster & McLennan is their sheer honesty--their lack of fakery. For me, the very unpretentious guitar intro to "Caroline and I" lays it all out: here are some friends of mine just doing what comes natural for them. They're in my home and that feels right.

"Bright Yellow Bright Orange" is a more consistent album than "Friends of Rachel Worth." It also sounds like Forster and McLennan are responsible for a greater proportion of the instrumentation than on the last record. Robert has taken up keyboards a little and even tries a bit of slide guitar. I cannot agree with another reviewer's commentary about Grant McLennan's chord progressions. I've played all of the Go-Bees' albums on guitar and I don't really find the chord choices to be all that different since, say, 1985 or so. But with the maturing of their songcraft, both Forster and McLennan have learned to avoid the busy chord changing of the early years. This was happening by the time of "Liberty Bell" and was obvious during their solo years. And it's Robert Forster who comes up with the two-chord wonder "Woman Across the Way" on the bonus disc.

One tradition that has held fast is the practice of including only 10 songs on the album. If we have to wait as long as we do for a Go Betweens album, it's really nice to have a bit more than that to digest. So I really appreciate the four song bonus disc that Jet Set included with this album. For me, Forster's "Girl Lying on a Beach" is one of the high points in the whole collection even though it's obviously a demo.

I am very happy with this album. It's good enough for me to board a plane and go from the west coast of the U.S. to Europe just to see them play on this tour.