Customer Reviews

Colour Revolt

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

 

 

Came to Colour Revolt by way of a Paste sampler CD, Paste being a magazine that wanted my business and sent me three free copies with a sampler in each. I didn't like the magazine, but the samplers were a great introduction to so many excellent songs, even if the bands didn't always merit further exploration. But Colour Revolt's contribution, "A New Family," was like a cross between the Pixies "Gigantic," something spooky by Roland S. Howard's lost These Immortal Souls, and also plenty uniquely their own, and it made me want to seek out more. Sheesh, I found the EP and it only cost $5.98! I felt guilty! The singer sings well, but he also drives into a thrash style scream, and it goes back and forth inside songs. Sometimes it works, sometime it sound affected. They came up to Baltimore a few months ago and played for, um, nobody at Ottobar, but still they were on to something. I really liked them, even though they didn't play the song I wanted to hear most. They were really funny afterward, listening to them backstage -- sounded just like a cool bunch of silly guys riding the mad wave of the penniless rock n' roll life on the road. They'll pop out the wiser and, chances are, probably not together, but, dammit, they deserve to stick with it and develop. Paste, not exactly the king makers of indie rock, still had the good taste to give them a nod, and they ought to catch other breaks. If you can afford it, Colour Revolt, stick with the game plan and try to dive down into the music, rather than grown disenchanted by the business. My gut tells me the band has at least one really great album in it. And I, for one, would love to hear it.

This stunning 6-song EP from Mississippi-based Colour Revolt is at turns beautiful, haunting, intelligent, and ferocious - sometimes all at once, but never perplexing or overwrought. I've copied all six tracks to my mp3 player, and I can't stop listening - I discover something new each time, especially on atmospheric tracks like the delicately woven epic "Mattresses Underwater." This album perfectly captures the blistering intensity of Colour Revolt's live show, a high-energy sonic assault featuring three guitars, piano/synth, soaring harmonies, and the occasional harmonica, supported by a driving drum and bass backbone. The vocals of lead vocalist/guitarist/pianist/harmonicist Jesse Coppenbarger range astonishingly between subtlety and rage (consider a fusion of Thom Yorke and Neal Young, with a frequent kick in the teeth from Frank Black or Henry Rollins); the supporting falsetto harmonies of fellow guitarist/pianist Sean Kirkpatrick further refine the unique Colour Revolt sound. The band's sound has been compared elsewhere to something like Radiohead+Foo Fighters, and while comparisons are inevitable, they're also usually inadequate. Throw in Neal Young and The Pixies--that'll get you a little closer, but in the end Colour Revolt has crafted a sound that is truly their own, which positions them as a quite welcome addition to the forefront of "indie-rock" evolution.

Were this 6 song CD expanded into a comparable full length album, this would be my favorite band. These are 6 of the best written songs in music history. The music takes you on a ride. Though its somewhat formulaic on most of the songs (start soft, build up, scream a lot, end), they pull it off better than any band I have ever heard before. The melodies are not only gripping and moving, but incredibly catchy. This is the kind of music you listen to and totally forget about the world and everything around you. Just let go.

Unfortunately, for your information, their full length only has one or two songs that are even near the quality of these 6 songs.

...while reading a magazine about unsigned bands...Alex Evans leading man of Holy Roar records (Kayo Dot, Blood* Panda(am I allowed to use that word or will the review get deleted? Someone needs to tell me the rules)) said that he regretted not signing up the band Colour Revolt stating "They're like Radiohead and Arcade Fire only with balls"...now this intrigued me...and reading other reviews they had gotten comparisons to bands Arcade Fire, Radiohead and Modest Mouse...so I decided to listen to a free sample of Matress Underwater...

...it truly wasn't what I expected as it seemed rather dreary...the atmosphere was constantly pulled up by the singing and it really wasn't my cup of tea...the song just felt like a bit of a boring and long interval (at the beginning) with the only redeeming point being that the man did have a very kind voice...it made me feel like giving up...

...of course...I didn't...and I found the rest of the ep absolutely phenomenal...my personal favourite being circus with that nice little Modest Mouseish guitar solo...the singer sounds alot more heartfelt in the other songs and uses other instruments (yay harmonica!!) to make them seem like real competition for the bands that they are compared to...

...yes they're not as big as the Radiohead giant...don't have as much prestige as the Arcade Fire yeti or the brand loyalty of the Modest Mouse elephant...but this is just their beginning ep...and if this is what they can do now...potentially what they do in a few years could be groundbreaking (within the genre)...buy this...listen to it...and if you can't feel the painstaking effort these people put in...then go listen to a giant yeti elephant and be gone with you...

I first heard Colour Revolt on a myspace profile. I found the EP and so far it's the been the best thing I've heard this year.

The band formerly known as Fletcher has cast aside its original nametag, taking its new handle from Edwin Abbott's 19th century social commentary Flatland, an exploration of life in two dimensions. But Colour Revolt is far from two-dimensional, eschewing Fletcher's familiar sonic assault of unorthodox song structures and time signatures for a more melancholic though equally guitar-driven aesthetic of the post-grunge Southern gothic.

The band's soundscape reflects the literary heritage of their native Oxford, Miss., channeling the jagged emotionality and moral ambiguity of the locale's forefathers, William Faulkner and Barry Hannah. Another facet of the small university town's life is music, serving as the home to the neo-blues pioneering of Fat Possum Records and in-demand Sweet Tea Recording studio.

In fact, a batch of songs Colour Revolt had recently tracked caught the attention of Clay Jones, a Sweet Tea engineer who mixed the last Elvis Costello and Modest Mouse albums. With Jones on board to mix the record, the band's self-titled debut EP was released on the small Mississippi-based indie outfit Esperanza Plantation in late December 2005.

TRACKLIST
1. Blood in Your Mouth
2. Mattresses Underwater
3. A New Family
4. Our Homes Are Graves
5. Change Your Face or Change Your Name
6. Circus