Brown Recluse

Brown Recluse formed in 2006 around the core of Timothy Meskers and Mark Saddlemire. Taking influence from the psych pop of The Zombies and Margo Guryan, the tropicalia of Os Mutantes, and 60s producers like Joe Meek and Phil Spector, the two recorded the bulk of the six-song Black Sunday EP. A brilliant blast of pop invention, Black Sunday easily rates as one of our favorite records of the last five years. It's blend of blinding songcraft, skilled arrangements and gorgeous playing is an absolute joy; it's rare to hear a record so assured from such a young band.

2006 and 2007 saw the duo expand to a six-piece live band that played numerous shows on the east coast, writing new material and winning new fans along the way. The fact that they've played with bands as varied as The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Tyvek, Dirty Projectors, Matt and Kim and Meneguar gives some indication of the wide-reaching influences this band takes in. The Soft Skin was recorded in mid-2007; after some delays with the original release, we're very excited to be able to bring it you on Slumberland Records. Cut at 45 rpm for maximum sound quality, the four songs show an increasingly confident full-band line-up stretching out and reaching a new plateau. A pastoral, psychedelic vibe permeates the EP, bringing to mind the sunshine pop of Curt Boettcher's The Millennium/Sagittarius projects, and such familiar touchstones as Brian Wilson, Belle & Sebastian, The Clientele and the Elephant 6 collective. This is pretty heady company to keep, but perfectly-realized songs like "Night Train" and "Rainy Saturday" more than hold their own.

Brown Recluse are hard at work on their debut album for Slumberland due late 2009, but until then we think The Soft Skin makes an excellent introduction to the band, and an ideal soundtrack for your summer.