Colourmusic is a band that I both love and hate, and doesn’t necessarily fit in with most of the music you might expect from Your Music Is Awful, which results in this post being a bit longer than usual. Colourmusic formed in Stillwater, Oklahoma with three band members from Oklahoma (Ryan Hendrix, Nick Ley and Colin Fleishacker) and one from North Yorkshire, England (Nick Turner). (So, I guess that’s why they are Colourmusic, with a U, and not, Colormusic).
There is a lot to dislike, OK (ha, ha), downright hate about Colourmusic. First, the way most of them look. Beards and stringy hair look bad to begin with, but look worse when combined with Harry Caray glasses with tinted lenses. Second, I hate the way they talk about themselves. “Oklahoma sex rock?” Seriously? Is that supposed to garner attention? Derision? Both? “Americana, country, gospel?” Is that some kind of opposite game? Some kind of wry, ironic, wink at stereotypes of Oklahoma? It just makes me want to punch each and every one of them. Third, I hate most of their videos, especially, “Tog” and “You For Leaving Me” both released in support of their current release “My ____ Is Pink. (Although I do like at least one of the videos, yes, there are multiple videos, for “Yes,” which has a joyous, celebratory feel to it).
I can’t tell you how much I REALLY, REALLY wanted to wholly and completely hate Colourmusic. But, I’ll be damned, I really like their music. At one extreme, their music is distorted, noisy, and repetitive (in a good way, like The Fall), but with melody and rhythm. At the other extreme, their music is pretty, quiet and wonderfully melodic.
Click here to listen to Colourmusic – “Tog” (at the noisier end, from My ____ Is Pink)
Click here to listen to Colourmusic – “Try” (at the quieter end, from from “F, Monday, Orange, February, Venus, Lunatic, 1 Or 13.)
They’ll be playing at Fitzgerald’s in Houston on July 16, and then at the UMS in Denver on July 22, so check them out and decide for yourself.
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