The Contrast

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THE CONTRAST are a guitar power pop band based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom. They were formed in 1999 by David Reid and have since released six albums.
Since the release of their second album Wireless Days their music has been regularly played by Little Steven on his Underground Garage radio show. Little Steven once described them on air as "One of the best bands on the planet – and England too" and consequently invited them to play the Underground Garage Festival on Randall’s Island in 2004.
In May 2007 they released a new album called "Underground Ghosts" also on Rainbow Quartz that has since been regularly featured Little Steven’s Underground Garage show.
In February 2008 the band released their first album for Little Steven Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool Records entitled Perfect Disguise: Introducing the Contrast. This release is a compilation featuring songs formerly featured on the Underground Garage radio show and also contains new and unreleased tracks.
For more info, downloads, photos and videos please visit: http://www.thecontrast.net and http://www.wickedcoolrecords.com
The Contrast, Perfect Disguise: I have raved about this British band before, but this compilation provides the ideal introduction to their unique sonic delights. Their music clearly pays homage to the ’60s, but it doesn’t really sound like any particular British band of the period, nor is it classifiable as garage-rock, because singer David Reid’s voice is too smooth and cultured. But the contrast between the crackling guitar riffs and velvety vocal tones is immensely appealing, and the intense hookiness of the tunes enhances matters. My closest comparison is the Bevis Frond minus the long guitar extrapolations, but that’s so obscure that I’d just advise you to sample a few tracks and see if you’re not instantly captivated.
- Ken Barnes – USA Today – Feb 2008
The Contrast, Perfect Disguise, Wicked Cool CD
Almost ignored in their home country, Peterborough’s The Contrast have been quietly producing classy, stylish guitar pop for a while now. An REM comparison immediately springs to mind; Reid is not a plagiarist or imitator – far from it – but his wistful vocal and the well done backing vocals are the connection to early REM, or, to be precise, to bands who inhabited similar musical territory. The UK’s Harbour Kings (previously Rollin’ Thunder) and the USA’s Jolene spring to mind. What all the aforementioned bands share is an ability to create songs that are “strangely strange but still normal”. The 16 tunes here have plenty of soaring melodic choruses and hooks aplenty, but without being at all “experimental” or “arty” they sidestep conventional song structures and patterns, heading off in unpredictable directions that never seem jerky or too clever. The title tune, ‘Believe’ and ‘How To Tell’ are cases in point; beguiling and adult power pop for the 21st century. There are some stand-alone pop songs here but the album works best as a whole, allowing the songs to blend into one another. I can’t always guess where David Reid is coming from, but I just know I like it!
- Phil Suggitt – Shindig magazine (March-April issue 2008)
"With their darkly tuneful melodies, haunting four-part harmonies, and scathing guitars, British quartet The Contrast is in debt to ’60s influences as filtered through latter-day groups like the Smithereens and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt, whose Little Steven’s Underground Garage radio show has focused an otherwise disparate scene, calls them one of the best bands on the planet. This album’s lead track, "Caught in a Trap," is the kind of taut, dizzying rocker that drove mod icons The Who and The Jam in their respective early years, and shows singer-writer David Reid, whose songs delve into nightmares and shifting identities, to be among the best young bandleaders going. Many garage bands burn out after one or two classic albums, but "Forget to Tell the Time" shows the Contrast just hitting their prime on album No. 4."
- Luke Torn - The Wall Street Journal