Sometimes you have to close your eyes to let music transport you to another world—but with some bands, the care and attention they pour into their sound can immediately evoke visions of beauty, and put you in a meditative and transcendental headspace.
The band Color Green, based out of Los Angeles, writes songs that feel like a summer breeze, a trip to the beach or a walk in the woods. Their sound, like that of their heroes the Grateful Dead, spans a number of styles and feelings, such as the good-vibe boogie of “Ain’t It Sad,” rainy-day jam “Night” or road-trip rocker “High and Low.” The band’s music transports the very best of ’70s feel-good rock into the modern day, and places an emphasis on a jam-heavy live show.
Color Green’s just-released sophomore LP, Fool’s Parade, digs further into the cosmic journey with tracks like the trippy “Four Leaf Clover,” the sweet blues of “Fool’s Parade” and the heavy, headbanging rock of “God in a $.” The band is heading on tour in support of the new record, making a stop at J Resort’s Glow Plaza on Sunday, Aug. 4, opening for Trampled by Turtles.
During a recent interview with band members Noah Kohll and Corey Madden, they shared their thoughts on the new album.
“It feels like a ‘finally’ for me, I’m sure for everyone else, too,” Madden said. “It’s been a little bit of time, so it feels really nice to have it in the air to everybody now, and it’s not a weight-on-your-shoulders kind of thing. The freedom of it being out in public is pretty sick.”
Added Kohll: “It feels good for it to be out. It’s funny, because we recorded it almost, like, a year ago, so a lot has changed. I feel like an album is like a moment in time, and as musicians, I feel like we’re always growing. It’s awesome to have it out, but I’m also in the headspace at the moment of looking forward to new stuff as well.”
Fool’s Parade is a nine-song journey that transcends both hard and soft rock, taking listeners through a multitude of vibes. Since the band is always focusing on the next jam, the release of the LP has caused them to revisit it.
“In full transparency, we’ve done a handful of interviews where people ask you about songs, and a few of them are pretty heavy in the back of my head, but for some, I’m like, ‘Man, I don’t really remember,’” Madden said. “It’s been a while where so much other shit has gone on, where I really have to dig deep to be like, ‘Oh, yeah, that was the vibe of this kind of thing,’ because you’re just on to the next thing. You just keep moving, and especially when enough time goes by, it’s like, ‘I’m already on the new shit, dude.’ When it came out, I listened to it for the first time in a long time, and I was transported back to that time.”
Color Green entered the studio as a live band to track Fool’s Parade. The result is an album that encapsulates the diverse and dynamic sounds of the band’s live shows.
“I’m really excited about people being able to listen to it, because we’ve been playing these songs for about a year now, and I’ve gotten comments saying, ‘You guys sound different than you do on your records,’ and I feel like this record is more in line with how we sound live these days,” Kohll said. “Obviously, it’s ever-evolving, but it’s cool that now people can have some sort of expectation of what they’re going to see live, more so now than before.”
The band members took a meticulous approach to recording and production.
“When you’re in the studio, things are more underneath a microscope,” Kohll said. “As we were preparing to record the record, we had certain things that we were doing that we did have to change in the studio, because you’re looking at every strum and drum hit and stuff like that. There is a picking-apart thing you have to do when you go and record, and that was definitely done, especially with rhythm tracks. There was a lot of focus on what was going on rhythmically, to have everything move as one unit.”
One stand-out moment is the song “5:08,” a softer jam that evokes somber and emotional feelings across the burning, six-minute ripper.
“When we recorded it, I think every one of us was crying or cried,” Kohll said. “We were alone doing our vocal takes in a booth so that no one could see each other, and we all confessed to each other that there were moments where we were tearing up while singing it.”
Even though vinyl albums and CDs are experiencing a resurgence, not every music listener in 2024 likes to listen to albums all the way through. A majority of musicians keep up with current listening habits by dropping singles, but for Color Green—a band who sounds ripped straight from the 1970s—a full album just makes sense.
“We’ve done the single thing before, but there’s always this constant idea of being like a timeless group,” Kohll said. “I listen to music as albums these days, and honestly, I didn’t even think about it. I don’t think it was an active decision to be like, ‘We’re not going to do singles.’ It was like, ‘Ah, we’re a band; we’re going to make a record.’”
Added Madden: “I think everyone in this band loves albums. … It feels like an official stamp when you make a full record. I don’t think there’s a deep thing around it. I love a record, but also, if … you have one or two (songs) that you just want to release, why not? Whatever feels good.”
Color Green’s tour will give the band a chance to both play through the new album and workshop brand-new songs.
“We have a couple of songs that we are probably going to debut on this tour,” Kohll said. “This is going to be the first tour for us where we’re playing certain songs that we haven’t recorded yet. I’m looking forward to that space of being like, ‘Oh, this hasn’t been recorded yet, so there’s even more freedom in what that song is going to be like live.’ When you have something recorded, it’s so easy to fall into the tendency of just playing what the recording sounds like, or what you did on the recording. I’m excited to have this feeling of newness for the audience in terms of, ‘Oh, they’re playing these songs from this new record; it’s their new record tour,’ and then they also get new songs that are also new for us. I’m pretty stoked for that element.”
Color Green will perform with Trampled by Turtles at 7 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 4, at J Resort’s Glow Plaza, 670 W. Fourth St., in Reno. Tickets start at $22.68. For more information, visit colorgreenband.com.