In my review of The Sadies' last effort, Stories Often Told, I said they were a few short steps away from perfecting the balance in their amalgam of surf, country and garage-rock. Even with the subsequent addition of bluegrass and old trucker songs to their mix, I can still say with some certainty that I was right-- they've managed to find that perfect balance. Nothing on Favourite Colours sounds like a detour. The resulting mishmash is served nicely by the ever-broadening term "Americana," though the band are actually Canadian (those u's in the title aren't there for nothing) and the record's most prominent guest is mad Englishman Robyn Hitchcock, who appears on closer "Why Would Anybody Live Here?".
But while the album is stylistically and sonically brilliant, it still suffers from the primary flaw of the band's four previous albums: Their songwriting hasn't made the same leap as their chops. There are a few standout melodies, but most of them are too limited in range to be truly memorable. The band's vocals can recall a sort of fantasy collaboration between Kris Kristofferson and Sweetheart of the Rodeo-era Byrds without exactly nailing what made either great, but they're still apropos for their easy-loping country-surf beat. On Favourite Colours, the band members handle the production themselves for the first time, and they give those close harmonies a roomy atmosphere, with pedal steels echoing in the distance, drums that impart the sound of the room in which they were recorded, and guitars that jangle and twang in equal measure.
The album opens with the surf-bluegrass rush of "Northumberland West", a two-minute instrumental stuffed with more rapid-fire Ozark guitar licks than an entire mid-80s Mekons album. "Translucent Sparrow" is spiked with nasty fuzz guitar and a lugubrious, almost Atom Heart Mother-ish horn section, while "Song of the Chief Musician (Part 2)" is gentle country jangle in an ocean of reverb. "Song of the Chief Musician" is one of three tracks curiously given the "Part" distinction, though none of them share a title or much of anything else in common. Those three songs are the album's strongest moments, and as such they form a sort of backbone for the record. "1000 Cities Falling (Part 1)" is an arresting ballad led by fingerpicked guitars and spacey steel interjections, while "Why Be So Curious? (Part 3)" reflects back on the rhythmic feel of "Northumberland West" and offers one of the album's best vocal melodies.
The beautifully placid instrumental "The Iceberg" and lilting acoustic two-step of "A Good Flying Day" nicely round out the album's midsection, but it's difficult to remember much of what comes between those songs and the album's end. "As Much as Such" strains to work its melody into its surroundings and feels painfully forced, while "Only You and Your Eyes"-- which could have blossomed into a classic surf ballad-- fails to develop beyond its first few bars. Even Hitchcock's guest spot comes up short in the melody department, sounding like a castoff from an unsuccessful Egyptians session.
It's a shame that the album loses momentum in its final third, because Favourite Colours is otherwise The Sadies' most fully realized statement to date. They may yet make the album they've always threatened to craft, but for now The Sadies still remain a band of seemingly great potential and slightly disappointing results.
