While digging through the discount bin of my local record store, Lexington's CD Central, I came across a disc from a band I remembered seeing open for the Vermont rockers The Static Age.  The band was Read Yellow and the CD was Radios Burn Faster, their 2004 LP.  While listening to it, I decided to learn a bit more about them, and after a some searching, I came across their MySpace page.  Atop the page was written "Read Yellow (R.I.P.)."  Sadly it turned out that this band who had formed just six years earlier at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst (so close to wear I grew up yet it took forever for me to find out about them!) had called it quits.  What they left behind, besides a legion of heartbroken fans, was a strong collection of musical mayhem that exuded energy and underground passion. 

Listening to Radios Burn Faster, it's pretty obvious why Read Yellow never hit it big.  There's not a lot here for mainstream audiences who need something polished and easy to digest.  This quartet is all about noise, though the kind that has a purpose rather than noise for the sake of noise.  Think of it as a controlled chaos as vocalist Evan Kinney shouts in a wild yet focused manner.  His vocals aren't hardcore or metal but rather that kind of indie hard rock singing that sounds like he's using every last breath to relay a message.  He does this as the rest of the band wails away with heaviness and distortion that blends elements of punk, hardcore, and well ... I have to admit, this music is really hard to categorize.  It's an unpredictably raw fury of instrumentation that doesn't really fall into a neat little subgenre.  It's just wild, electric rock.

Yet the album is not so wild that it can't draw you in with strong, melodic hooks.  "Fashion Fatale," which can also be found on the soundtrack to the movie Waiting, echoes fellow defunct Massachusetts band the Explosion with its fist-pumpingly forceful, punkish delivery backed by some soloing that sounds like it was plucked from early '90s Seattle.  "Model America" and "The Art" have far from poppy refrains, but they are certainly memorable thanks to chants of "Shut out!  Shut Out!" and "Connect!  Connect!" respectively.  "Static" takes a different turn with male shouts being balanced by more soothing female vocals from bassist Michelle Kay Freivald.  She returns on "Soleil," this time handling the vocals almost alone.  Freivald makes the songs sound a bit more pleasing, but the energy is never sacrificed for a moment. 

Read Yellow is not for everyone.  You've got to enjoy loud, heavy, in-your-face rock that at times seems directionless (though after a couple listens, you'll realize that these guys knew what they were doing.)  Their passion bleeds through your speakers just like it did when they were onstage.  Read Yellow may no longer be around, but with Radios Burn Faster as well as their other releases, they left a legacy not just for their small but devoted group of fans to remember them by but also one for music lovers to discover and hear what they missed.

Recommended: Yes