PRIOR WARNING: THIS REVIEW IS GOING TO BE BIASED.
When the possibility arose that I could potentially review Ringo Deathstarr’s new EP, ‘Shadow’, I felt a rush of excitement and was eager to put myself forward for the job. This review is therefore going to be positively biased due to the following reasons:
- They are certainly in contention for the best band name in the history of contemporary music.
- I am a big fan of their debut studio album, ‘Colour Trip’, which was released earlier this year (especially because they spelt ‘Colour’ correctly, despite being American).
- Some friends and I bumped into Elliot (Frazer, guitar/vocals) from the band whilst watching Sebedoh at OFF Festival in Poland last summer. He very kindly shared his vodka and [famous brand of Tennessee bourbon whiskey] with us, which went down swimmingly. Too swimmingly.
Due to these factors, The ‘Starr have occupied a very special place in my heart and I think of them with very warm regards. Bearing in mind that this review was always bound to be favourable towards these guys, upon actually listening to the recordings for the first few times it becomes obvious that my predetermined kind words are completely justifiable.
The EP begins with self-titled opener, ‘Shadow’, which screams out for an obvious influence from My Bloody Valentine with use of an early 90’s drum-machine-sounding beat, vaguely pitched guitar chords and dreamlike, beauteous feminine backing vocals provided by Alex Gehring (bass/vocals).
The intensity remains high throughout their short-yet-sweet follower, ‘New Way’, with a violent attack on the drums from Daniel Coborn and uproar of shoegazing guitar commotion. The pinnacle of this song seems to come right at the ending for only a few bars. The music deliberately loses its sense of stability and goes into a Sonic Youth-esque frenzy of experimental noise. It seems that this exquisite racket induced upon our ears so far has burnt out some energy and let off some steam. The remaining half of the EP eases off the accelerator a little.
‘Prisms’ effortlessly allures you to slip into a trance-like meditative state where you can just concentrate on the psychedelically slurring music and attempt to decipher the hazy, imperceptible lyrics. I draw a parallel between the effects evoked upon the listener in this song to the work of Bradford Cox (Deerhunter/Atlas Sound).
The sleepiness then spills over into the final track, ‘Just You’, which is a cover from Twin Peaks. A much-appreciated swinging rhythm drops shortly after the celestial introduction of this song, which works as a sedative to cradle you into a lullaby of blissful, droning beauty. This settles the EP to finish with a simple, innocent and sweet conclusion.
On reflection of this record, it feels as if ‘Shadow’ was created to be played on vinyl. The first two tracks (metaphorical Side A) are in the same vein as one another, and this also applies to the last two tracks (metaphorical Side B). There are majorly contrasting deliveries to each half, yet an irrefutable contingency throughout the whole EP.
I was very impressed with ‘Shadow’ and it has certainly contributed to my fondness for Ringo Deathstarr developing even further. Prejudice prevails. Better start writing another blinkered review for their next release then, I guess…
[Rating:4.5]
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