The Colourphonics are a band from Adelaide, Australia. This is their eponymous debut album, although I found some info on the internet that some band members are also active under the name New Translation. The Colourphonics consist of Corey Taylor (guitar, vocals), Shaun Martin (bass guitar), Steve Deer (drums, percussion), Ken Lee (saxophones) and Nick Sverdloff (saxophone). Furthermore there are guest appearances of Tony Minnieconn (vocals), Miranda Maz (vocals, Irresponsibles), Peter Raidel (saxophones), Geoff Bradley (trumpets), Andrew Tucker (trumpets) and David Merigot (keyboards). Opener Looking Back At It All is a rather conventional pop-rock song. Good Within You is a mixture of jazz-rock with a very funky bass line. Find A Home is even funkier. My Daydream is sixties pop with a typical organ sound, while Sunset is an instrumental track that starts as prog rock until the brass section takes over. After about three minutes they throw in a bit of heavy metal rhythms. Found is a blues rock song and Blossom Haze is the inevitable slow rocker and This Is Not An Exit is again complex jazz rock. Closing track Underwater is a rather relaxed pop song. For sure, The Colourphonics have a sound of their own, but in my opinion the album is a bit overdone. Too many different styles, too many changes of pace and too many instruments that want to play the first fiddle. So the music gets complex and strained. Especially the brass section, the trumpet and saxophones are emphatically present aside from the closing track. The more instruments play on this album, the less interesting the songs are. ** Erik Gibbels (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
