The Colour reviewed
The Colour
Between Earth & Sky
(Rethink/EMI)
Stonesy L.A. band cast as many images as they can, no matter how conflicting.
Where to start? There’s the band name, invoking the British spelling of what we Americans call “color,” usually interpreted as projecting some sort of sophistication or worldliness. But then there’s the opening Web site photo (band outside trailerhome) and album cover (hands cupping gravel), which portrays a Midwestern, homespun, salt-of-the-earth nuance. But then there’s the tagline, “You really need to see them live,” which doesn’t *always* but often means either A) our lyrics suck ass so you better see us somewhere with a bad P.A. or B) without overpowering volume, we really have no business here. Unfortunately for The Colour, it’s both.
The band released an EP last year, which was a teaser in every sense of the word: it didn’t really deliver, but somehow made you forsake reason and wish for more. The whole quintet deserves blame for Between Earth & Sky‘s first two cuts, which are as stock Rolling Stones as they get. But then “Save Yourself” turns a corner into “Gimme Shelter” territory, and whenever the band return to this darkened gutter rock they succeed (about 50 percent the rest of the way). If it weren’t for Wyatt Hull’s second-rate Jack White imitation, however, that fraction might be considerably larger. Also, the lyrics on Sky grow so incredibly terrible toward the end of the album, it’s a sadistic surprise to find they have actually printed them in the liners. Long after he apes Robert Plant on “Devil’s Got A Holda Me,” he boasts couplets such as “Let’s come together/shine a light” and the completely distracting “Bearded Lady,” so loaded with quasi-Morrisonisms it’d be unfair to the other lines to pick a favorite. But you need to hear them live.
— Steve Forstneger
Appearing: March 17th at Schubas in Chicago.
