Australian shoegaze combo
Flyying Colours arrive fully formed on their debut self-titled EP. Equal parts guitar overdrive and melodic grace, they mix together the best parts of bands like
Ride,
Chapterhouse, and
My Bloody Valentine to come up with a sound that's derivative yet so full of energy and hooks that it won't really bother anyone that they've heard it before. Plus, not too many original shoegaze bands, or the scores of imitators who have followed, have written a song as sticky sweet and thrilling as "Wavygravy." The other four songs aren't weak sisters either; any one of them would have found a safe home on
Nowhere or
Whirlpool. Everything about the band is rock solid; the fuzzily intertwined guitars of Brodie J Brümmer and Gemma O'Connor, the pair's calm vocal harmonies, and the steady pulse and churning dynamics of the rhythm section all work together to make the EP a very promising first splash. The little bit of grit and sonic power the group adds to the shoegaze template helps make it really pop too, giving the songs plenty of muscle to go with the swooning melancholy. If you have any affinity at all for classic shoegaze bands and want something new to add to your collection, you could do a lot worse than this.
Flyying Colours are hardly reinventing the shoegaze/noise pop wheel, they are just doing it extremely well and that's definitely good enough. ~ Tim Sendra