MAD PAINTER re-releases their album Splashed on Epictronic Records

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 17, 2024 

Los Angeles, CA – Boston-based 1970’s rock inspired band, Mad Painter, is re-releasing their 2023, Splashed, album on record label, Epictronic, on April 26, 2024. The Woodstock-era psychedelic, glam-tinged rock ‘n’ roll band has garnered much attention across the globe with their original melodic songs, party vibe and music that makes you move. 

Mad Painter is Alex Gitlin, songwriter and creator of the band’s concept. He is backed by drummer Al Hendry (Bubba Loaf, Tokyo Tramps), bassist Kenne Highland(ex-Gizmos, Hopelessly Obscure, Johnny & The Jumper Cables, Africa Corps.) and guitarist Al Naha (The Thigh Scrapers), who plays with Kenne in Kenne Highland Airforce. The newest members are two backing vocalists, Sharon Crumrine and Julie Gee. 

Alex says, “Splashed, was a bit of a "schizoid" album, to tell you the truth. Some of the tracks are songs written and originally recorded as demos back in 1997! With the help of this line-up, we've brought them back to life and recorded brand-new versions of them, giving them the patented Painter sound.”

Mad Painter was signed to Epictronic Records in 2023, which is a global label and a subsidiary of Wormholedeath Records. They have a global reach into markets such as Asia (Japan, South Korea), Europe and North America, which is where they plan to distribute, Splashed. 

What is Mad Painter doing now? Alex says, “We've gotten songs fully recorded and ready to mix, with three more to be added shortly, for the follow-up to, Splashed. It's not going to be as diverse in terms of style, perhaps, but more diverse instrumentally speaking. With the latest arrival Sharon Crumrine, we've got a pianist, a flautist, and a second backing vocalist.” 

Mad Painter is hoping to play some sizable gigs in 2024, festivals, and venture outside of Massachusetts, targeting all of the New England states as well as New York.
 

Mad Painter Delivers A Pure Rock Sound With A New Album

https://www.ragtalent.com/post/mad-painter-delivers-a-pure-rock-sound-with-a-new-album

If you're not too familiar with the rock world of Mad Painter, then let us be among the first to introduce you because the most recent album dubbed Splashed, feels like something of a rock masterpiece as songs jump out at you with I heavily cinematic approach and a real classic rock drive.

This record never ceases to amaze, song after song because each track has a little bit of a different vibe than the one before, but they all seem to tell these sorts of stories almost like scenes of a play which again, brings me back to the whole theatrical tonality of the thing.

The energy displayed on this record is raw and alive which helps the album come through with this vivacious color.

There are a lot of surprises around the corners of this record and this is something that lets you begin to expect the unexpected at times, and there is a huge array of rock guitar riffs and thick-laid organs that, in combination, help these songs deliver an aesthetic that ends up being a world of its own but still with this familiar backbone like you've been listening to some of these songs on the radio for decades.

The vocals during the span of the release are very robust and have a massive persona that you find yourself getting attached to quite quickly and this is an attribute that I adore because in a way this feels almost like a bit of a concept album.

A lot of these songs have a particular way of grabbing your attention and telling you these tales of sorts but it's all something that speaks volumes for the band because the record never loses its steam.

Upon listening to this album, I went over to the website for Mad Painter and I'm glad I did because they gave me a lot of information, and not only that, but I was able to watch a few videos for some of the songs off of this album and this enlightened me to something I didn't realize before.

Watching the video for one of my favorite tracks and the first song on the record called "Illusion" made it look like one man was doing multiple performances instrumentally.

Now, I do realize that this is a full band effort but maybe it's something that grew into that yet started as a solo project of sorts.

I can't be sure of that but I would suggest jumping over to the website so you can check out some of these videos because they also deliver the importance of certain elements of these songs like the organ and keys for example.

Especially in a song like "Illusion", the keys and organ sections are a huge chunk of the rhythm section but also some fun lead parts as well so the keys in general are just an optimal part of the staple sound of this band.

This album was really big, and I don't just mean lengthwise, I mean songwriting-wise and performance-wise.

I am going to give this a 9 out of 10 in terms of incredible creativity and effort into opposition, and performance especially.

But don't take it for me, pop the record on and turn it up.

bluesbunny.com reviews Splashed

You don’t often get an album that sounds like it was recorded before yesterday yet that’s exactly what “Splashed” by Mad Painter is. An album that, whilst of this time, sounds like it is of another, nearly forgotten, time and place. 

I shall explain. Mes enfants, there was a time when rock music had evolved into a heady mix of musical complexity and intelligent, often poetic, lyrics and those were indeed the halcyon days of tour buses and substance abuse but, lest we forget, the music was always the key to the door. Now, with the music released from an extended stay in rehab, we are currently blessed with the soggy squibs of hard rock and death/melodic/udon noodle metal but, fortunately for us, we now have these seventeen songs from Mad Painter that throw all the stylistic keys from those rose tinted days of yesteryear into the Ikea brandy glass and start up some serious organ swinging. 

The lyrics betray an acerbic sense of humour with some decidedly theatrical overtones taking these songs well past the showtune stage and right on into the ironworks. You can’t pull off songs like these without some serious musical backup and that is indeed present with all those crochets and quavers – cheesy, of course – being knitted into the kind of sordidly syncopated sweater that is not just for Christmas. 

I’d call “Splashed” diffidently quirky and, in a way, this album is like all those Rick Wakeman albums that you got for much cheapness from the local charity shop. You know that it isn’t trendy to like them but no rational person could ignore the fact that the music contained therein is both clever and entertaining. Boom, boom, pass the bong as the fox used to say. 

Best song: “Samurai” 

Verdict: Amuses the ears longtime.

Mad Painter are being signed to Epictronic

http://www.epictronic.com/

Mad Painter are being signed to Epictronic, an Italian label, for the release of their new (sophomore) album, Splashed!  The album combines heavy rock anthems 1970s style, inspired by the music of Uriah Heep, melodic and bluesy ballads, retro pop - a veritable variety  guaranteed to please different kinds of taste palates. 

The album was recorded during and after the pandemic lockdown, when there could not be more than three persons gathering in the studio at any given time. It took one year to record and another year to mix and master the 17 tracks on offer. The oldest ones, I Don't Know, A Friend In France and Lie To Me, date back to 1997,  way before Mad Painter was born. They were demoed by Alex at the time and shelved for close to a quarter-century, to be revived just now. You Nearly Stole My Heart Away was  written in 2011, and it's meant as a breezy Al Stewart-type tune, although the rhythm pattern is closer to the Zombies "Time of the Season". That's a perfect example of an  evolution of an idea from its embryonic phase to a complete Painter track. Everyone in the band has equal input into the process of arrangement. Illusion and Rock And Roll Samurai were written by Dmitry around 2017 and rehearsed by the earlier lineups of Painter, but didn't make the cut on the debut album. This time,  not only have they become the two key singles on the Splashed album, as well as the promotional videos, also they've evolved to represent the signature Painter sound. There's orchestrated balladry in I've Been A Fool and I Live For Love, both leftovers from the first lineup of the band, as well as pop in the style of early 80s, Love Is Gold. The biggest inspirations for this one were ABBA and Elton John. With all this variety on Splashed, Mad Painter are determined to stick to their signature style and continue creating  heavy rock, driven by organ and guitar, with the main influences ranging from Deep Purple and Mountain to Argent, Bloodrock, Procol Harum and the Small Faces. The recording sessions for the followup to Splashed are already underway.