Colour Trip
Colour Trip gets plenty from a familiar combination. Ringo Deathstarr place gentle singing against distorted guitars but keep the tracks short and their melodies clear. The shoegaze and noise pop influences are easy to recognise. Yet the record offers more than a collection of good references: the band have enough songs of their own to support the familiar sound.
Imagine Hearts places Alex Gehring's light voice among wavering guitars. Its rhythm gives the track an almost danceable character. Do It Every Time then pushes harder, drawing strength from a direct, energetic movement. The band need not clear away much of the surrounding noise to make their pop sense audible. Melody remains present inside the louder playing, giving it a clear direction.
So High keeps the approach appealingly concise. The singing and clearly shaped tune give it an immediate attraction. Elliott Frazier and Gehring alternate effectively across the record, their voices often becoming part of the texture rather than a separate centre. Their harmonies soften the harder sections without taking away their force. The music can sound inviting and rough at the same time.
Tambourine Girl and Chloe add more weight. Guitars occupy the space more assertively and the second half gains a darker edge. Other Things leaves much of that behind at the end. Its slower movement and Gehring's singing offer a different conclusion from another final burst of noise.
The limited invention remains the main reservation. Some guitar sounds and vocal approaches point so clearly towards earlier bands that Ringo Deathstarr's identity briefly disappears. Colour Trip therefore makes no great advance for the genre. As a compact set of strong, noisy pop songs, however, it works well. The momentum, singing and melodies make a convincing case for enjoying what is here.
