Followers

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

Fred Mascherino (Taking Back Sunday, Breaking Pangaea) returns with another album from The Color Fred in April

Fred Mascherino, also known as THE COLOR FRED, is gearing up for the release of his first new album since 2007. A Year and Change is due out on April 1 and the music video for “Creatures” debuted via TCF’s YouTube channel. In addition, the album will be available for pre-save on Spotify.

“I always liked titles that can mean more than one thing because it can mean something different to you than it does to me and we still connect with it,” describes vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Fred Mascherino. “Anytime I’m talking about something I did in the past three years, I have no idea whether it was a few months ago or at the end of 2019. It has all become the same and I felt like I needed to address this strange time in some way.”

The album is composed of a dozen songs as well as two bonus tracks that were written and recorded during the pandemic with one song being released per month. “The hardest part of making one song a month is that we premiered each song as we went so we felt like each song had to be worthy of being a single,” explains Mascherino. “People were following our progress and we didn’t want to lose them along the way.”

A Year and Change is fueled by Masherino’s indie rock DNA. The opening track “Don’t Give Up On Me” has an unforgettable guitar riff that’s probably the best we’ve ever heard from him and harkens back to his Breaking Pangaea days. The ripper “Save Yourself” is the most aggressive song that he has released since his stint in Taking Back Sunday. “Never Wanted” is an anthem for the working-class and has enough pop to be a Third Eye Blind song but retains a certain heaviness throughout.

The Color Fred is an indie rock band headed by former Taking Back Sunday guitarist/vocalist Fred Mascherino. Bend to Break, The Color Fred’s first full-length album, was released on October 30, 2007. The album hit #8 on the Billboard Heatseekers Chart. The band toured throughout North America and Europe, playing with bands such as Dashboard Confessional, Angels and Airwaves, and Four Year Strong. They released an acoustic EP titled The Intervention for Record Store Day in 2009 and did a virtual solo acoustic tour in support of its release.

Mascherino then entered the studio to record LP2 and wound up collaborating with his friends Josh Eppard (Coheed and Cambria) and Andy Jackson (Hot Rod Circuit) in what eventually became Terrible Things. The trio signed to Universal Motown Records, released their popular self-titled full-length, then spent most of their time on the road supporting bands including The Offspring, Minus the Bear, Bayside, Circa Survive, and Streetlight Manifesto. Mascherino then went on tour playing bass in The Lemonheads and guitar for Say Anything.

The Color Fred is Fred Mascherino (vocals, guitar), Steve Angello (guitar, backing vocals), Monte Holt (drums), and Keith Gibbons (bass).

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