Ringo Deathstarr - Colour Trip

Released February 14 2011 / Club AC30

Imagine Hearts

Do It Every Time

So High

Two Girls

Kaleidoscope

Day Dreamy

Tambourine Girl

Chloe

Never Drive

You Don’t Listen

Other Things

Ringo Deathstarr caught our attention back in 2007 with their tremendous self-titled EP. Now the Texas trio have released Colour Trip, an album drenched in effects and reverb that would make My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus & Mary Chain proud. It’s a ode to shoegaze in it’s finest moments, and gives hope to fans of the genre that it will never die. At times memories of Lush come flooding through, especially with ‘So High’ and the brief but lovely ‘Two Girls’. ‘Do It Every Time’ is prime Mary Chain and features the line, “We’re falling apart again/ she took my cardigan”, sung in a manner that suggests the latter line is deeming for greater heartbreak and not the former. The vocals of Elliott Frazier and Alex Gehring work fantastically in solo conditions as well as on the duet tracks. Colour Trip acts as a nostalgic record, dripping in reverb and bright coloured lights. ‘Chloe’ is perfect, sounding like a track MBV could have included on Loveless. ‘You Don’t Listen’ sounds like a lost Jesus & Mary Chain track. At times it’s hard to believe that this material is all new and fresh, because it takes you back to classic shoegaze times. Gehring sounds particularly swoony on ‘Other Things’ and one of the great singles from last year ‘Imagine Hearts’. Equally as good are Frazier’s vocals on the warm and fuzzy guitar-fuelled ‘Tambourine Girl’. The song ‘Kaleidoscope’ asks, “Have you seen her?/ she’s a kaleidoscope/ she can show you colours that no one knows”. It’s a line that sums up the album perfectly. Colour Trip is a gorgeous album with pulsating reverb, catchy hooks, sonic sounds, lush vocals and soaring guitar riffs, one of the 2011s best records!

Ringo Deathstarr - Live in San Diego, 2010

1st April 2010 - The Casbah, San Diego, California

Starrsha

Chloe

Sweet Girl

In Love

Punky

Some Kind Of Sad

Summertime

Tambourine Girl

DOWNLOAD

Blonde Redhead - Live in Melbourne, 2011

5th February 2011 - Laneway Festival, Footscray Community Arts Centre, Victoria, Australia

Falling Man
Dr. Strangeluv
Spring And By Summer Fall
Here Sometimes
Oslo
Not Getting There
Melody Of Certain Three
23

DOWNLOAD

Blonde Redhead - Penny Sparkle

Released September, 13 2010 / 4AD

Here Sometimes
Not Getting There
Will There Be Stars
My Plants Are Dead
Love Or Prison
Oslo
Penny Sparkle
Everything Is Wrong
Black Guitar
Spain

Blueboy and Popgirly have tremendous amounts of love for Blonde Redhead. So it’s a wonder why we have left it so long to review their eighth offering Penny Sparkle. Well, it certainly isn’t a let down. Enlisting the help of producer Subliminal Kid (Fever Ray) would be Blonde Redhead's biggest musical shift to date. They have created an entirely new Blonde Redhead sound on this record with beautifully-spaced electronic compositions. Kazu Makino brings compassion and warmth to each song, full of lush mystery like a floating dream. Check out the lead single, ‘Here Sometimes’, with its gloomy synth and spacey beats, yet delicately balanced with Makino’s soft vocal. Many reviewers have given Penny Sparkle bad write-ups, even calling the album ‘heartless and uncomfortable’, yet Blueboy and Popgirly believe this album shows Blonde Redhead’s commitment to the avant-garde. They are able to conjure stylistic strengths and arrangements without sounding forced or clumsy. 23 was dream pop magic, but with this album, they have pushed the envelope with clear inspiration from Björk’s Vespertine. The deep bass guitar sound on tracks such as ‘My Plants Are Dead’ or ‘Love Or Prison’ are beautiful, there is vastness and space created within them. ‘My Plants Are Dead’ in particular, is going to be on heavy rotation for a long time. Whereas the aforementioned ‘Love Or Prison’ has remnants of The Cure’s ‘All Cats Are Grey’ (yes, another mention of The Cure on this blog), hauntingly beautiful and unforgettable. Overall, Penny Sparkle delivers something far deeper that its predecessor, Blonde Redhead have created a record full of perfectly balanced space. It is a down-tempo mood piece, with a lush organic sound that will soothe ears for years to come.

Beach Fossils - What A Pleasure (EP)

Released March 8, 2011 / Captured Tracks

Moments
What A Pleasure
Fall Right In
Out In The Way
Face It
Distance
Calyer
Adversity

Blueboy and Popgirly were very excited to find out about this 8 track EP from Beach Fossils. If you liked their self-titled release from last year you will definitely enjoy this EP. The sound is pretty much the same, thankfully, perhaps a warmer feeling enters, and the evocative sounds capture the imagination. It all feels like a pleasant dream. There is a consistency not only in the music but also the mood. The opening instrumental piece entitled ‘Moments’ features drumming that evokes memories of the opening of The Cure classic ‘Shake Dog Shake’. Unfortunately this is only a short instrumental, it would have been interesting if they developed this into a full track with vocals. ‘Out In The Way’ features Wild Nothing’s Jack Tatum, in a duet that is priceless. The overall sound of the EP is confident, secure and carefully considered. ‘Calyer’ will grow on you and is beautiful like a sunshower. ‘Face It’ is a highlight and worthy of many repeated listens. The female backing vocals are gorgeous and give the song an extra push to being the standout of the entire EP. For an EP release, this will no doubt be one of the best of the year.

MySpace