It doesn’t normally rain in Los Angeles, and when it does, it’s generally laughable: light drizzle or that fine kind of mist that comes off of freshly poured soda. But lately, it’s been shitting rain in LA, slowing traffic, knocking down power lines, and generally making life a little more miserable. But I was fortunate enough to see Watercolor Paintings tonight. They performed in a quaint little gallery in Silverlake, and it helped us (the audience) forget the weather.
Rebecca and Josh Redman (that’s them by the artichoke) are the dynamic brother-sister duo that comprise Watercolor Paintings. They’re extremely kind and wonderful people, and if you get the chance to meet them you should. But if you don’t get that chance, you can still listen to their music. Rebecca writes beautiful pop songs that generally involve acoustic stringed instruments (harp and ukelele), but don’t exclude instruments such as toy drums and a children’s toy vocoder with an anarchy symbol scribbled on it.
More than any other band I’ve seen in recent years, Watercolor Paintings has mastered the art of the sing-a-long. With ease, they command whole choruses that will gladly and unabashedly do as told, singing whole songs that they have never even heard before. One example of this finely-honed craft is Watercolor Paintings’ “Tender Loving Care.” While the begins with an upbeat polka-like drum and uke combo, it quickly surges in to a triumphant chorus of TLC’s “I Don’t Want No Scrubs.” I’ve noticed that often times, people will join in not even really realizing that it’s TLC. They sing because they know the words, and they sing because they want to. It’s not an easy feat, but I believe that Watercolor Paintings pull it off on a nightly basis. And they don’t brag about it, either, because they’re eff-ing rad.
“Tender Loving Care” is an amazing song. Not only is it an honest song of young love and miscommunication; it cleverly co-opts T.L.C.’s 90s pop chart hit. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, but if some part of you doesn’t enjoy some part of this song, then I think you’re dumb.
Ooh, I love this song! It’s so adorable.
I had it stuck in my head all day today!
I owe Rebecca and Josh so much. I would not be where I am without them. I’ve seen them play probably over two dozen times, but its always fun and special.
Josh and Rebecca are the shit. I’ve played shows in the same room as them twice and both were hella dummy.
How does one buy records from these cats? I’m in love with what I’ve heard thus far
rad music and some of the nicest folks in the los angeles area for sure