Spacey reverb, sparkling bells, and three indie music icons make a great (chrome) match
I’ve long named “chrome” as one of my favorite colors — so when I spotted the release of the new holiday album by Dean & Britta & Sonic Boom (and the above promo photo of the band), I jumped right in. On A Peace of Us, the trio’s strong love of reverb, etherial fuzz, and jangly guitars emit the same feelings as “chrome” — which is airy, bright, and unencumbered.
Dean Wareham first made the indie-world swoon as part of Galaxie 500. The trio pioneered the dream pop and slowcore genres. They made minimalism sound big, drawing on post-punk and proto-punk influences like The Velvet Underground, Wire, and Joy Division.
Dean and Britta are a power couple that arose from their time in Luna. Luna built out Galaxie 500’s divine sparse pop into lush pop songs. All you need to know about Luna can be gleaned from the song “Slash Your Tires.”
Spacemen 3’s sound can best be describe by their motto, “Taking drugs to make music to take drugs to,” — which is to say, they created music that is as much about the experience as it is about the sound. You can see their influence in shoegaze, electronica, and indie-psychedelia.
The very likely trio of Dean & Britta & Sonic Boom have worked together over the years (occasional touring and various song collaborations), but A Peace of Us marks their first full-length album as a trio. I adore the perfection of their match.com compatibility. Even in the above photo of them, it’s pretty neat how Dean and Sonic look like brothers. They definitely go shopping for jean jackets together.
Dean & Britta & Sonic Boom (D&B&SB) ring in this “buy now” time of year with an album that inspires Etsy shopping and intimate DIY backyard parties around the (ecologically correct) fire pit.
With as “chrome” as the album is, there’s a warmth and effortlessness that provides an artful hygge holiday soundtrack.
The album starts with their cover of the David Berman (Purple Mountains) song, “Snow Is Falling in Manhattan.” This rendition brought a Galaxie 500-sized tear to my eye. The Sonic Boom’s whispers of “Snow” glisten. Friends be warned, I might substitute the word “skål” when I find my way to one of those backyard parties.
I’ve always felt that Willie Nelson’s “Pretty Paper” is an unexpected holiday song. The D&B&SB version feels a need I didn’t know I had. It blips and bleeps and drones and is a futuristic soundtrack for your movie with wrapping present scenes.
Britta on vocals of the Merle Haggard classic, “If We Make It Through December” is captivating. Dean and Sonic Boom round it out by “playing country” with an equal amount of subtly and softness.
The arrangement of “Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy” was made famous by Bing Crosby and David Bowie in their 1977 TV duet performance. Those are big shoes to fill. The D&B&SB version of “Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy” captures and tweaks the song’s weightiness. It features Dean breaking out into German over the course of the song (Dean also flexed his German-speaking muscles earlier in the album in “Stille Nacht”) and when Britta chimes in, the beguiling duet is complete.
The album ends with “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” — and it is perfection. Whether you celebrate the holiday or not, this song is timeless and appropriate all year long.
Colored vinyl always makes an ideal holiday gift (and birthdays and random “I love yous”). A Peace of Us is available on emerald green vinyl, which you can choose to add-on a commemorative “A Peace of Us enamel Christmas ornament with red ribbon” when you order it. Perfect for placement under your chrome Christmas tree!
I don’t see documentation of this, but I’m pretty sure all this is limited edition. Notes state that the physical items will ship out on December 22, 2024 — but if you purchase via Bandcamp, you can start listening/downloading to the full digital album now (which, admit it, is how you’ll listen to it 90% of the time anyway).
PS — in the course of my dive into this album, I happened up on this nugget of info that I can’t believe I didn’t know until now: Britta was Jem of the 1980’s cartoon Jem and the Holograms It was the natural next step for Gen Xers who savored Josie and the Pussycats reruns as little ones. I like to think that Jem (and the raucous The Misfits, also featured in the series) ignited a girl-power band fire right when our tween ambitions needed a sparkly boost of something truly outrageous.