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Corinthians XIII.11 probably has it pegged down best, but I've been known to put things in my own words. As a kid my favorite color was green, and my favorite color combination was a nauseating green + neon yellow. I distinctly remember making my own neon yellow ninja turtle, and that I was facing west while doing it, so I'm going to blame that slip up on California. As an adult(?) I've come to embrace my love of autumn, no longer caught in a moral quandary of seasonal love pitted against a hatred of primary school. Instead of green and blue, I'm quite taken with other earthy tones like orange and especially brown.

You can't really get away with loving brown as a child, or young adult, or even college student, because quite simply brown is the color of shit. And vomit. In college, hanging out with Jibu (who was, incidentally, brown) one day in Room 5, another tenant of ours Rory arrived back from work. He worked at UPS, and had been developing a theory of the inverse relationship between corporate ladder position and bathroom courtesy. He notified us (about 3 months before this all went public) of UPS' new planned slogan, one to replace "Moving at the Speed of Business". The slogan was "What can Brown do for you?", as many advertisement infected good amerikan sheep probably now know.

This taken along with his bathroom stories (the bathroom is, of course, where the coop student worker goes to make up lost sleep) was of course hilarious, and the slogan indeed is terrible. But that isn't the fault of brown! (the color) UPS originally chose the color because it is professional and elegant and, presumably, because it's boring; it's not overly formal like black, flashy and troublesome (maintenance wise) like white, but still relatively neutral. All that aside, though, I genuinely like brown, and wear brown clothes often.

So it is proudly (and with some confusion) that I finally get to the point and announce to the world that the best pop band in the US has gone brown. Although curiously snubbing their loyal NYC following (me, johnny, the dancing guy in the beret and the old dude who likes mixed drinks) and performing their album release show in Chicago, they are finally going to release their new CD on March the 20th. Titled "All things, Forests" officially (but I have unofficially christened it Palomar IV out of necessity), it seems like it will include at least "Bury Me Closer" and the unparalleled "Our Haunt".

Since there are no records of previous EP's and I came to the game rather late so I wouldn't know from sheer force of indie cred, I'm not sure how much material from Palomar 3.5 will be featured, but my guess is the only song that might make the cut is "Whoa!". For anyone who has seen the live show but dared not to buy the EP, Whoa! is Palomar's live closer (and a damned good one, at that).

Although to my delight "Our Haunt" was made available sometime early in January, it still deserves mention as probably the best pure pop song recorded by Palomar since "Up!". The album art for All Things, Forests, beyond embracing brown, suggests that the band has started to embrace the dichotomy of bright poppy (dare I say twee?) tunes and melancholy hinted at by their last albums brilliant opener "The Planeiac", "Work is a State Function", and more firmly suggested by closer "Brick and the Skipper." "Our Haunt" (the bands' space page calls it "Walk On") starts appropriately hauntingly, and twists in and out of power pop mode, even in it's abbreviated chorus, which stops abruptly, seemingly to give you a few measures of contemplation rather than have you submit to repetition.

Some more hot new shit you can listen to can be found on Palomar's Space. "Bury Me Closer" departs a bit from the live version with a heavy hawaiian flanging effect, but is every bit as emotionally engaging (and 'aww shucks' sweet). I'm not sure if Brocket's solo made it to the wax or not, and while it definitely preserves its quality recorded, it just isn't the same without the accompaniment of Dale's detached nodding and guiltily exchanged smiles between the stringstresses.

I've said it a few times, probably because taken objectively Palomar is best fit for teenaged girls, but this music just makes you happy. Their innocent sounding tunes mesh well with singer Rachel's caustic wit and hilarious New York Sarcastic Banter. They really are a band that's best experienced in person. In the mean time, though, you can start your very own survey of Palomar material in the comfort of your own home.

• Whoa! - Palomar 3.5 [also check out the line rider vid]
• Stay out Late - Palomar 3.5
• Bridge of Sighs - Palomar 3.5
• Our Haunt/Walk On - All Things, Forests (Palomar 4!)