Okay, before we get into this track—one of the highlights on the brand spankin’ new PDX Pop Now! compilation—I want to clear something up. Since winning Willamette Week’s Best New Band poll last month, I’ve heard various friends and colleagues wondering what’s the best abbreviation for Explode Into Colors. EIC? XIC? EPIC? How do we twitter this shit? So I’m here to set the record straight. I’m a XIC kinda guy. It just seems so fitting.

With the 2009 PPN comp set for release on Thursday, it makes sense that our best all ages music festival sees a proper kick off from our best all ages percussion-heavy dance band. “Paper (Hot Sax Version)” has what’s now becoming hallmarks for an Explode Into Colors song: a jaunty, bouncy rhythm, copious amounts of cowbell, joyous yips and yelps, and some seriously speaker-rattling low end. Still, the parenthesis in the song title is there for a reason; “Paper” distances itself from other XIC tracks with a deft, reverb-soaked saxophone and a ghostly organ line. The saxophone is really in vogue these days (Bill Clinton must be happy!) but here it’s not overdone, coming in at just the right moment and never overshadowing the song’s rhythm or guitar lick. “Paper” is still driven by Lisa Schonberg’s funky drumming, but XIC also show that percussion isn’t the only thing it does well.

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Check back tomorrow and Thursday for two more tracks from the PPN comp, including what might be my favorite song of the year—even though it was actually submitted for last year’s CD. The PDX Pop Now! compilation release show is this Thursday, June 5, at Holocene. 8 pm. $10. All ages.

Links:
Explode Into ColorSpace
PDX Pop Now!

Photo by Nilina Mason-Campbell

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