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!
