The Reds, Pinks and Purples release ‘The Past Is A Garden I Never Fed’ today on Fire Records.
Having penned over 200 songs and released eight albums in the last six years, The Reds, Pinks and Purples release a collection of tracks previously unreleased on physical format that continues to romanticize the wonders and woes of the world.
With song titles that read like chapter sub-heads for a post-Douglas Coupland novella, ‘The Past Is A Garden I Never Fed’ takes The Reds, Pinks and Purples central orator Glenn Donaldson through the turmoil of small talk and everyday water cooler moments with a fine sense of pathos and irony.
“Donaldson’s best work hides allure within a bigger picture, like a jangle-pop egg hunt.” Pitchfork
Set to a soundtrack that swerves between the dark days of Television Personalities and Byrdsian twang to the Jarvis Cocker-styled rhetoric and vocal tenderness of ‘Richard In the Age Of The Corporation’ with hints of everything from Husker Du’s fuzzed splendour to the chiming majesty of The Chameleons it’s an empowering listen.
The pathos and irony of the glorious track ‘The World Doesn’t Need Another Band’ sets out the band’s store, it’s a measured and quietly outspoken rant at lacklustre opposition peppered with a gorgeous guitar break.
Glenn says of the song: “I’m uncomfortable with the term ‘ironic’. These feelings are true feelings, even the ones that are hard to admit.”
Meanwhile, ‘I Only Ever Wanted To See You Fail’ rumbles with an Eddie And The Hot Rods pre-punk riff before dissolving into a tale of self-doubt and remorse, bemoaning others’ good luck: “I can play punk rock, that’s the level I’m at,” says Glenn.
‘Toxic Friend’ is from the book of the TVP’s Daniel Treacey with an upbeat chorus that smacks of all that was good in old school indie in a hail of fuzzy logic and guitars.
“I think ‘The Painted Word’ is one of the greatest albums ever made,” admits Glenn, “and the way that he took 60s pop , and turned it intomade it a something else was a vehicle for his super personal and dark songs. On one level it’s pure pop like Herman’s Hermits and on the other level it’s a debased psychological journey.
‘Slow Torture Of An Hourly Wage’ is a biographical tale from Glenn who worked from age 14 before quitting to go full-time as The Reds, Pinks and Purples. “Doesn’t everyone hate working? It’s modern blues,” he muses, while ‘No-One Absolves Us In The End’ is a realisation that whatever God you follow nothing can save us now, something of a hangover from early exposure to and rejection of Conservative Christianity that manifested much later in a celebration of the Jungian mysteries.
The Reds, Pinks and Purples story started when Glenn Donaldson released songs like monthly postcards to a small but loyal following.
Glenn: “I looked around at the indie landscape and I felt that there weren’t enough people putting themselves out there as the awkward emotionally exposed main character in the songs.”
Eventually, he decided to make some honest pop music, and since 2019 he’s released eight vinyl LPs on Slumberland (USA) and Tough Love (UK). From humble beginnings as a home recording project, The Reds, Pinks and Purples has blossomed into a sporadic live unit with tours on both sides of the Atlantic and appearances at Pitchfork Fest London and Woodsist Fest as well as support slots for indie legends such as Destroyer, Guided By Voices, and The Feelies.
‘The Past Is A Garden I Never Fed’ is out now, available in Limited Edition Neon Pink LP & CD.
RELEASE LIVE DATES
18 Jul: Crepe Place, Santa Cruz, CA, US
19 Jul: 4 Star Theater, San Francisco, CA, US
