Album Review: Guilty Rainbow by Roommate

“The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself.” I’m a huge fan of this quotation, not just because I’m a member of the gazillions-strong community that can totally relate to it, but largely because it’s attributed to Mark Twain. Mark Fucking Twain! Who could come off, through works and quips alike, as more comfortable with him- or herself than Mark Twain? And yet he knows about us. In one fell swoop, he gives form and meaning to our neuroses and suffering.

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On their third album, Roommate continue in their semi-blissed out, semi-art-pop way, with everything from electronic squelches and crisp beats to stately, reflective singing on the opening "My Bad," opining that "Jesus saves the Jesus freaks," but that might be the limit of it. (Then there's also the way the title is referenced via the concluding chorale of "Mea culpa," leading one to reflect what Caesar might have been like if he were a 21st century bro. ) The album is generally of a piece in this overall regard, with recombinations of everything from hints of steel guitar and steady space rock/disco progression through to soft singalongs.

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Guilty Rainbow is a culminating step forward for Chicago’s Roommate, a singer-songwriter project that’s been in different stages of incubation since 2001’s promising if uneven Celebs EP. With his third full-length release, Kent Lambert, the man behind the words and music, has finally consolidated his band into a consistent four-piece, and Guilty Rainbow bears the marks of a more active level of cooperation among the contributors. Bassist Gillian Lisée, multi-instrumentalist Luther Rochester and drummer Seth Vanek add a welcome bit of musical muscle to Lambert’s understated vocals and forceful lyrics.

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