Ringo Deathstarr - Colour Trip

Consistency. It’s a rare thing for an album to achieve. Even harder is maintaining that consistency while showcasing a variety of sounds. To create that truly versatile, gripping, wonderful album... well, it takes a lot of talent. Enter Ringo Deathstarr, who make a rather good go of doing just that with their album Colour Trip.

There’s touches of The Cure all over the album, that same keen balance between  jovial, light-heartedness and the melancholy. Tracks like the brilliant single So High represent the band at their most cheery, delicate nursery-rhyme-like melodies swirling over a jumble or sonic delights. There’s a swirl of energy at the heart of this song - and most of the album for that matter - that sucks you in.

Kaleidoscope is even more infected with the sound of the 80s, smeared in the sounds of grim urban streets. There’s something of The Stone Roses masterpiece of a debut in the vocals and gritty, scratchy guitar-work as well as dashes of The Chameleons. This vibe continues onto Day Dreamy, all post-punk and echoey. It’s funny as hailing from Texas, Ringo Deathstarr are as about as far from the American deep-south as you can get. If it wasn’t for the accents, they’d sound almost unmistakeably British. And if you ever feel the whimsical edges are getting too much, tracks like Chloe brings a strong rock core back to the album with big, epic guitar solos.

The album Colour Trip seems particularly apt. This is an artistic sort of album. The whole female/male vocal duo works very well and it’s something I always think we should hear more of in music. Colour Trip feels like a painting, each part carefully applied to another, building and building until the entire creation presents itself. Perhaps that’s the secret to its consistency. Either way, this is an album that will keep you coming back for more, chiefly because it offers so much. It’s an album that wants you to explore deeper and deeper into it. Taken at face value, this is an extremely strong rock album with lots of lovely retro touches. But zooming in, picking the various pieces apart, it holds so much more.

Colour Trip is available to download on iTunes now.