Colourmusic: MY___ IS PINK

True originality is becoming too much to ask these days (is that the most unoriginal thing I could possibly say?) so grudgingly, we’re all going to have to lower those standards a notch when discussing at least the early parts of the current decade. There hasn’t been an era of mimicry this blatant since the late 90s bands copped all the worst aspects of the early 90s bands and created post-grunge/nü-metal, ruining rock radio from that point on. Fortunately, a significant number of today’s crop of 80s-aping synthpop bands are actually making good music, and not just compared to Staind.

Colourmusic sounds an awful lot like Love And Rockets with fey vocals and fewer hooks, or Depeche Mode with access to more gadgets and louder guitars, but you don’t end up with that gross, über-derivative feeling after a spin through My___ Is Pink. This is the kind of ghostly, guttural dance-rock you wish more of the retro-crazers would at least try sometimes. Your woofers will shudder, your brain will feel twitchy, and every once in a while you’ll notice there are a lot of subtle delicacies interwoven as well. Occasionally, as in “Feels Good To Wear”, it comes off a bit forced, particularly the baby-coo vox, but overall the songs feel more arrived-at than calculated.

From the (suitably) dreamy, infectious rhythms and guitar melodies in “Dolphins & Unicorns” to the brisk laser-beam/fuzz guitar stomp in “The Little Death (In Five Parts)” to the anthemic lurch of “Yes!”, there’s a sense of creepiness that keeps you on edge but never really flirts with despair. Tracks flow into and out of one another effortlessly, creating more of a collage effect than a collection of standout songs, but elusivity may be the point; if individual tunes were more memorable, you might not keep coming back to try and get a handle on the whole. It probably won’t ever blow you away, but it’s bound to seep into your memory if you give it a chance.