Los Angeles – Tennessee alt-rockers Colony House recently embarked on their first headlining tour to support their recent debut album, When I Was Younger. At The Satellite in Los Angeles, lead singer Caleb Chapman told the animated crowd that they have connected with loyal fans throughout the band’s tour. While When I Was Younger didn’t tread much new ground, the live performance elevated an album that was a bit undercooked. “Silhouettes,” which Best New Bands called “a bright, summer song perfect for a lead single,” was a real crowd pleaser. The band had a strong rapport with one another and their youthful vitality surely overshadowed the mixed bag the album offers.
Colony House kicked off the show with one of their stronger tracks, “Keep On Keeping On,” and the high-octane energy, clear vocals, and crisp sound motivated the crowd. After a pair of songs, Colony House performed “Caught Me By Surprise,” one of the better songs from the album. With indelible hooks and dance-worthy beats, this one caught my attention as a band that, at this stage in their career, are better live than their overly polished studio work. “Learning How To Love,” a coming-of-age tune exhibited a tender, impassioned performance that demonstrated the band’s range. The beautiful, alluring arrangements delivered; if love is on your mind, this song will certainly drive it further into your soul.
“Glorious” was a highlight: slow and steady and surprising at every turn…one of the band’s best. It’s an anthem-driven tune that speaks to a generation of fans and perhaps to the band themselves. The song features mollifying vocals, pleasing guitar sounds and a U2-style breakaway towards the end. It makes you think about who you are, where you are, and if it’s everything you ever imagined. The questions are proposed within the songs, but the answers are only found within. The closing track was “2:20,” a complete departure from the rest of the songs that were played. It’s a hard rocking, The Black Keys sort-of jam. The cool/edgy factor was exhibited and the band seemed to thoroughly enjoy stretching out the track longer than its much-shorter recorded length. While the song doesn’t fit the image of the band, it’s out-of-left-field sound was a fitting end from a band that is still searching for its self-image.
Colony House returned with an encore of “Moving Forward.” Their spiritual, pensive tune proved to be an intimate song for the band to perform. It starts off acoustic before it detonates into a fervent affair. Wavering between softness and robustness, this one proved to be the defining track for Colony House that night. With chants of “ohs” closing out the tune by its members, the song came to a peaceful conclusion. Just like that it was over, with their time considerably well spent and an evening I enjoyed for everything I didn’t expect.
For more information about Colony House’s tour visit their Facebook page.
Sean Kayden
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