The Mellons 
There’s been a wealth of sunshine pop and ‘60s sounds that have spun up over the past few years; a new renaissance of bubblegum blush and baroque ornaments that can’t help but chase a smile onto the cheeks. While the marquee release from The Lemon Twigs might be gaining the ink so far, don’t sleep on the sunshine sons of SLC, The Mellons. The band stunned with a debut on Earth Libraries in 2022, already deep into their lush life, lobbing comparisons with The Beach Boys, Yellow Balloon, and Van Dyke Parks. The band deepens the psych-pop delirium and sunny disposition on their latest, In Color, an album that sinks further into the shag carpet cavalcade of strings, swooning harmonies, brass, and beatific hooks. The band’s harmonies are gonna dig at the sandbox of Surf n’ psych’s greatest, but as mentioned before they actually have a lot more in common with deeper crate curiosities like Yellow Balloon, Free Design, and the cornucopia of sounds from Curt Boettcher. Throw in some Honeybus hues and a dash of The Beau Brummels in their Triangle years and you’re just about getting close to the nerve on In Color.
Sure, the band have done their homework, but even the best pupils still need the passion to bring it in practice. That’s precisely where The Mellons persevere. The band stitches together a psych-pop odyssey that’s more than an assemblage of hat tips and in-jokes. Threaded through with intros, faux commercials, and the kind of hallmarks that hung on concept fodder from the ‘60s in droves; the band creates a pop-up book of an album that unfolds into bright swirls, dazzling details, and clockwork touches that deepen with each new listen. It’s a kaleidoscopic undertaking rendered in soaring arrangements and layered harmonies. The listener tumbles into their world, a funhouse mirror of pop possibilities that sprawls out in all directions. The last album was hardly hemmed in, but In Color lives up to its hand-painted promises; a bright, incandescent album that flickers to life in Rube Goldberg motion and doesn’t miss a beat until it sighs to a close on the appropriately-titled “Say Goodbye.” If you’ve been beguiled by anyone from Rundgren to Foxygen, then it’s time to give The Mellons a listen.
Support the artist. Buy it HERE.