First, Last, and Favorite is our semi-regular column where we get to dig into some of the music that fed our favorite musicians as listeners. This edition we’re happy to shed some light on Seattle’s Smokey Brights.
Smokey Brights is a group focused on timeless sounds and sharp songwriting, fronted by the songwriting duo and real life husband and wife pairing of Ryan Devlin and Kim West. They’ve been releasing music for half a decade and 2020 saw the release of their latest full-length I Love You But Damn, which just happens to be one of Sonic Boom’s best-selling local releases for the year. The record is a great showcase for their sound, think 70s pop-rock vibes by way of modern minded indie, and honestly you can hear a lot of those records they mention here in the mix. And for all of you missing out on the live music setting, the group has a whole live video series shot at the Tractor, it is some consolation.
Both Kim and Ryan were kind enough to walk us through some of their more formative listens and recent obsessions. Here they are in their own words:
First
Kim: Fiona Apple Tidal
This record marked one of the first moments I felt like I was forming my own musical identity instead of just listening to whatever my parents put on at home. It hit me like nothing I’d ever heard before. The songs were so empowered and the lyrics were so painful and full of anger. I loved everything about Fiona’s vocals - at times light and delicate in moments of vulnerability, at other times a brutally off-kilter wale telling the listener just how much emotion was behind her words. It almost scared me how honest she was. I’d never seen anyone be so honest. I loved that record so much I memorized every part of it. I even worked up the courage to perform “Criminal” at a talent night at my school, marking the first time I ever sang solo in public.
Ryan: The Replacements Tim
I saw the music video for Bastards of Young on MTV2 my sophomore year high school. The sound was a revelation to me, lyrically desperate, sonically ragged and off kilter, and yet very melodic. I went out and bought the CD from the Borders in Tacoma the very next day. Though my hair was likely dyed some shade of purple at the time, punk had started to feel pretty silly to me. This was the height of the Warped Tour era. The Replacements felt authentic in a way I was missing. A week later my best friend Nick gifted me the same record for my birthday. He couldn’t believe I already owned it, because it had had the same effect on him. It was part of the reason we spent the next fifteen years playing in bands together, and Tim still gives me that feeling of realness I need sometimes.
Last
Kim: IDLES Joy as an Act of Resistance
Ryan and I are both lyrically-focused people. They really matter to us. You can have an incredible song - the best sounding song of all time - but if it doesn’t say anything, it doesn’t really do anything. That is why IDLES has become one of the most important bands in our household. The way they package absolutely devastatingly beautiful and relevant lyrical content in aggressive, sweat your face off, spit in a cop’s eye punk songs is absolutely genius. It is the most unexpected vehicle for delivering choice nuggets like: If someone talked to you / The way you do to you / I'd put their teeth through / Love yourself. They’ve continued to blow us away with their subsequent releases, including “Grounds” which has one of my favorite lines ever: Go ahead / Tell em what I’ve intended / I’ll say what I mean, do what I love, and fucking send it.
Ryan: Robyn Honey
This record and IDLES Joy as an Act of Resistance were the two records we were listening to the most while writing I Love You But Damn. You may not hear much of either record in terms of production, but lyrically and emotionally Honey is something we deeply relate to. The whole thing feels like a heart to heart with yourself that’s long overdue. It’s full of forgiveness, softness, honesty, and joy. It’s also a sumptuous bubble bath of a soundscape. The lyrics to Send to Robin Immediately have become almost like a mantra to me:
If you got something to say, say it right away / If you got something to do, do what's right for you / If you got somebody to love, give that love today / Know you got nothing to lose.
Favorite
Kim: Fleetwood Mac Rumours
I probably could have thought of a “cooler” or more “out there” pick for best record, but why? Honestly, Rumours is as close to a perfect record as it gets for me. The songs, track order, vocal delivery, musicianship, arrangements, lyrical content, cover - even the creepy Oh Daddy song - it all culminates into one of the best rock and roll records of all time.
Ryan: Titus Andronicus The Monitor
My old roommate and bandmate used to run sound at The Funhouse. One night this band Titus Andronicus slept on our floor after they played the club, which was pretty normal for those days. I paid attention to them after that, and soon thereafter they released The Monitor. It did it for me the moment I heard it, and it does it for me now. This is one of those records that I simply can’t listen to loud enough, I’m fairly certain I’ve blown a few speakers trying. No other record sounds this way, it’s amazing. More than a decade after it’s release this record is frighteningly relevant. The American Civil War motifs and the deeply anxious and fatalistic lyrics point out ten years ago what has become painfully obvious now: we are a deeply divided and fucked up country.