Calliope Musicals “Color/Sweat” 2019. Rhyme & Reason Records. Psychedelic indie-pop. I’m pretty sure we picked up this album from the band when they played Cactus Club in July 2019…and it’s been sitting, sealed, in my to-do box ever since. Color/Sweat is the Texas “party folk band’s” second release. I think we first saw them play in 2017 or 2018 at Mile of Music and they are so fun live. Stage props, wild outfits and costumes. And then of course the Jerry Bomb — it’s hard to explain (go to a show) — but for an general idea, here’s a photo from that Cactus show:

Calliope Musicals at Cactus Club 2019

Color/Sweat is almost as much fun as a Calliope Musicals performance – highly danceable, dreamy, swirly pop with an edge to the shimmer. I can’t believe it’s taken me almost 5 years to take a listen. Singer Carrie Fussell’s voice is beautiful, lots of depth with a soaring range and the rest of the band is having an absolute ball backing her. I’m sure they played a bunch of songs from this record in 2019 but I absolutely cannot remember which those would have been. Top tracks include the opener “Fear This Body” and the title track “Color/Sweat,” the all-out dance party “That’s Why We Dance.”