It all seemed to be coming up roses for Dubliners THE GORGEOUS COLOURS a couple of years back. I, for one, was extremely taken by the baroque, slightly threatening elegance of their twin singles ‘Hunting Something’ and ‘Holy Moley’ and was expecting them to make waves in a much larger commercial pool.
Things never quite pan out the way you imagine at the best of times, of course, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised when my predictions never quite came to pass. The good news, though, is that the band has survived a personnel reshuffle and has returned to the fray with another strong and highly individualistic release, ‘The Creatures down Below’ EP.
Although I’ve read several reviews where the likes of Grizzly Bear have been used as a comparison, The Gorgeous Colours are far more interesting than that. The EP’S title track opens with the best typewriter riff since the Tom Tom Club’s ‘Wordy Rappinghood’ and it sets up the song’s rhythm: a wonky, fascinating affair based around staccato pianos, timpani and eccentric Beach Boys harmonies. It’s predictably great, as is the ensuing ‘Animal’ (“I see a clever fox, I see a stubborn ox...I swear I see an animal in you”) where further apparently disparate elements such as finger-picked guitars and curious loping drum patterns come together gloriously with a nonchalance most bands would give their eye teeth for.
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The galloping drums, sultry trumpet and clipped urgency of third track ‘No Man’s Land’ are all a little more reminiscent of the baroque-flavoured pop The Gorgeous Colours were previously getting so adept at producing. The vivid lyrics (“As I write, I picture you in candlelight/ another body warms your bed tonight”), organ colouring and overall drama conspire to set up arguably the EP’S most memorable track, although the tingly kitchen sink Mariachi concoction of the closing ‘Cloakroom’ (“tiptoe the floor, unlock the door, let’s leave this curious place together”) runs it very close indeed.
It’s patently obvious, then, that The Gorgeous Colours haven’t lost their touch. They have returned sounding perhaps a little more world-weary, but the very fact they have returned at all is reason to run up the flags. Especially when they make it feel like they’ve never been away.
The Gorgeous Colours at Bandcamp
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