As a producer, Guy Page is responsible for the sounds of hundreds of releases across various genres. His latest, an Indie/Rock album titled Brainbow, released through his solo project “Pet Lounge”, which harnesses the wisdom and experience almost two decades of musical production can offer, giving an album that is both punchy and exciting, but equally informative regardless of your position as a listener.

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This album boasts many examples of songcrafting - starting with the immediate punch in opening track “No Fun”, the lesson? There’s no extended introduction or egotistical attempts of artistry, but instead a track that starts with all instruments and vocals. It’s not a large warm up, and quickly, much like we discussed in our review of this album’s single “Dave”, it gets to the important bits. Every single layer is clinically recorded and again is incredibly intentional. The wall of sound, with distorted guitars and multiple vocal layers, work harmoniously to create a clean, yet grungy rock sound. 

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The second track “Dave” is very similar - quick entry, keeping the track very tightly produced, however lets a lead guitar wander between the structural makeup of the song. As we have already covered Dave in depth, I’ll jump to Nervous. 

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Despite the name, Nervous is the first deviation from a clear identity this album has established in the opening tracks. With vocals more exposed, this song offers a different dynamic, and although still grunge-rock, I found this track reminiscent of a combination of Busted and blink-182 (particularly “What’s my age again?”) - which is just a nostalgic dream. Important note on Nervous - it’s at this point my four year old, who is sitting next to me colouring in, said “Daddy, I like this song a lot.” High praise. Throughout the album so far, we have had some amount of double-tracked vocals, but I think they came alive in track three. 

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Much like the vocals, Guy Page utilises double-tracked guitars in ‘I’, sounding somewhat like Justin Hawkins lead guitar in any Darkness song. Much like any track produced by Mr Page, this is a treat that comes later into the song to progressively build. One of the hardest things to achieve in a full-length record is to maintain the attention of your listener. The songs are thematically similar, but are produced well enough to not grow stagnant. As an album brainbow for the first half does a great job to keep listeners’ interest.

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To signpost the middle of this album are two of my favourite tracks as a listener. “What’s The Point Of Being Friends” starts with a different sound, with compressed vocals and a faster tempo, the timbre is changed in a minute blast, finishing with an impressive and well-suited guitar solo. The lyrics are relatable and witty, without being . We resumed our regular listening with Chinese New Year, the track I found myself singing continuously for the week I had access to this album. The track does confirm a slight cookie cutter approach to song construction; mild instrumental noise into full track and vocals - but the structure has worked so far and Chinese New Year does an excellent job of remaining interesting, despite a small level of predictability from a dynamic and structural aspect. 

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To draw one criticism, I was slightly fatigued during the verses in the second half of the album. Although the songs are varied, I think they’re weighted to the choruses, which remain catchy and always cut through the song. Guitar effects and synthetic sounds across Self Esteem and Van Song ensure there is variety on the record, and continue to display Guy Page’s attention to detail when it comes to musical production. 

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I’ve always envied Guy Page’s ability to construct a song. But this album took it to a new level. Every chorus resonates in your head and the musicianship during instrumental breakdowns is something else. With his main project, Coach Party, launching their way through the indie music scene and booking their headline tour - he still manages to create an album better than most artists in his spare time.

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