Customer Reviews

Between Earth & Sky

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Straight up rock and roll has been hard to come by in recent years. The Colour step in to fill that void with "Between Earth and Sky". The band offers a modern, organic take on classic rock. The band immediately sparks comparisons to The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Steppenwolf, etc. but honestly...isn't it about time music in that vein came back around? They successfully channel their influences without being imitators through mockery.

Recorded in the same vintage styling, "Between Earth and Sky" is far from a plastic record thats released by every other rock band these days. From start to stop, the album is totally cohesive. While the engineering is spotless, it purposefully lacks that final coat of gloss.

The songs are direct and to the point, dark but not black. The lyrics dabble in mystic poetry while, at the same time, being totally relatable. These guys are also true musicians, playing everything from guitar, bass, and drums to piano, harmonica, and the occasional tambourine.

All in all, The Colour do not set out to reinvent the wheel. They do offer a solid album that will stand the test of time. These guys have a bright future ahead of them.

If you remotely like the classic rock greats, pick this album up. There are also tons of other good bands coming out of LA at the moment. The Shys, Cold War Kids, and Delta Spirit are all worth looking into. Its about time the "roll" was put back into "rock".

When pressed to describe the sound of new Los Angeles throwback rock act The Colour, a plethora of words come to mind. Passionate? Oh, yeah! Emotional? Totally. Talented? Undoubtedly. Guitarists' David Quon and Luke MacMaster's licks are hot as the sidewalk in Dallas in July and tasty as a good burger. Vocalist Wyatt Hull croons, yelps, and shouts his way through the record quite amicably. All these qualities and more come to mind, when listening to their first release on the re:think label.

But I'm sure you've got another question. "Are they original," you ask. Ask me that and my up-till-now free flowing praise ebbs a little. I hesitate and am forced to mutter, "Well, not quite." While Hull's got a great voice, he channels Jim Morrison on the opening track, "Don't You Hear it Call," and, more obviously, Robert Plant on "Devil's Got a Holda Me" and "Silver Meadows."

However, if you can get over the fact that this music's been played before, you're in for a real treat. Tracks like "Save Yourself" and "Kill the Lights" bristle with fervor and passion that delights in the art form that is and was rock and roll with sprawling guitar solos and lyrics that span from broken relationships to politics to religion. Tension fills "Our Children Were the Stars," with copious (yet ambiguous) spiritual imagery:

I'll go to the mountain side
To the roots of the sea
You've grown up so wild
You were like the mustard seed
I was the sun
You were the moon
And our children were the stars

On Between the Earth and Sky, The Colour sounds like a band still trying to find themselves, as this album pays more homage to its heroes than establishes a sound all its own. However, it has enough classic rock swagger andcockiness to imply that the future is bright for the California rockers.

This album is certainly a keeper. Every song on the cd is emotionally-driven and well-written. And, in this day and age, my friend, that's a rarity in itself. If you like the Doors, The Black Crows, and The Rolling Stones, you're gonna love The Colour!!!!

I've read various different reviews from fancypants places who tend to bad-mouth this group for what they COULD or SHOULD be. I don't get it......What they ARE is a talented bunch of guys who make very listenable music with great song structure and solid vocals. The rock and roll is very old school in terms the instruments they tend to employ on the record. (organ can be heard throughout) Vocally, i hear a LOT of the Killers but this isn't a bad thing as the man from the Killers has a darn fine voice.

Honestly, not a bad track on this album and i'd recommend to anyone who enjoys newer rock intermixed some of the older elements and solid singing. The album is a winner.

Fun, funky band with a unique sound. If you like the songs they've realeaed, you are likely to enjoy the whole album.

While still relatively unknown, The Colour is a typical indie rock band however with balls of steel. That might sound a bit verbose, but it is the truth. The band borrows its raw blues rock from more contemporary artists The Black Keys but incorporates itself into something dreamy and surreal.

Between Earth & Sky, the band's debut album, kicks off with "Can't You Hear It Call" and once the bass line sweeps the dirt from the ground, it pretty much never stops cleaning. The guitar hints at hooks but the vocals that derive from that swinging sixties tone is where it's at. Imagine lounge rock but with the volume a tad up.

"Save Yourself" is inarguably the band's strongest song and while the album peaks at this third track, there is room left over for some ambient tunes that follow the similar formula yet bear enough difference to be considered sublime.

"Just A Taste" is a hip swaying number carved straight from a bar in Louisiana. Harmonicas, crashing drums, and lengthy guitar riffs pillow a beautiful song that should do wonders for the band's live act.

Filling the middle, the surfer swinging "Black Summer" picks up the album's pace yet only if one can shake the infectious chorus to the previous "Devil's Got A Holda Me" which sounds like a song either Robert Plant or Jack White might pen.

The ballad "Dirge To Earth & Sky" soars and scales but not to any new heights and it seems quite forgettable once the song is finished through. Unfortunately this closes the album on a more melancholic vibe instead of the dashing pre-mature fun that was seen in the previous eleven tracks.

While The Colour may be making the preliminary rounds of music show business by taking a few shows here and there and opening for bigger acts, its sound should find a home in the iPod generation. This is not a classic album or the most impressive debut but in a world filled with every nickel and dime band alongside the pricey patch of jam bands, it is nice to see simplicity turned into something genuinely decent to listen to.

That is where The Colour refuses to fail.