Brill Bruisers

Canadian indie rock stalwarts New Pornographers have a new album coming in August called “Brill Bruisers,” and it has a fantastic sleeve by Steven Wilson and Thomas Burden.

“Brill Bruisers” by Steven Wilson and Thomas Burden

Though computer generated, the imagery is an update (a successful one, if you ask me) of the California airbrush style of commercial art from the 1970s, as documented in Norman Hathaway’s excellent book “Overspray: Riding High with the Kings of California Airbrush Art.” Though sadly already out of print, Hathaway’s book offers a superb overview of what was, in the 1970s and ’80s, the dominant aesthetic in record covers and advertising design. The style fell out of favor for many years, but everything has its season.

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