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Average: 3.5 (12 ratings)
- Date Released: April 29, 2008
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Indie Rock, Alternative
- Label: Ecstatic Peace / IODA
Brooklynites from Michigan bring the best elements of both places’ noise.
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We Say...
When rock fans think of Ann Arbor, Michigan, they think of the Stooges, who helped invent punk rock with a sound that combined jazzy dissonance and funk-inspired loose grooves. When those same rock fans think of Brooklyn, they tend to focus on any number of modern-day bands that honor sonic tradition while staying committed to the moment. So it’s not exactly surprising that the strengths of Awesome Color, a trio of Ann Arbor-gone-Brooklyn (Bushwick, specifically) sludge-rockers, neatly intersect both of those approaches.
Guitarist-singer Derek Stanton, bassist Michael Troutman and drummer Allison Busch are clearly indebted to hard ’70s boogie (their not-terribly-well-updated homepage links to ZZ Top’s website for a reason) as well as rawer, punkier stuff, and they frequently mine an expansive space-rock/psychedelic streak — “Eyes of Light,” the opening cut from Electric Aborigines, evokes Hawkwind covering Hendrix’s “Third Stone From the Sun.” Dusty rock LPs aren’t all these guys mine: until the words came in on “Outside Tonight,” I was convinced the band was covering the old Tom Jones staple “She’s a Lady.” Good for them for knowing a killer riff when they hear one — and for writing a bunch all their own. -
They Say...
The opening moments of Awesome Color's second album catches the band already deep in the midst of what sounds like at least a three-alarm fire. Drummer Allison Busch is going monkey crazy behind her kit, Derek Stanton is shredding vocal chords and throwing out lightning-fast, thunder heavy guitar and Michael Troutman stands in the middle of the wreckage holding it down in classic Entwistle style. It's a rousing, inspiring start and serves notice that not much has changed since the band's first album. Awesome Color was a thrilling blast of rock & roll energy delivered with brains and brawn, sounding like grandkids of the '60s Detroit rock sound, but also like kids having a blast rocking like hell. Electric Aborigines is more of the same and that is a very good thing. Their sound is so tight, dynamic and exciting that the lack of change matters not one bit. The band could crank out album after album in this exact style and never be boring. There are a few stylistic differences between albums, Electric Aborigines is a little looser here and there (the funky "Come and Dance" being an example) and they experiment more sonically by bringing in a few new instruments to complement their classic power trio lineup, most notably organ and sitar. There's also a slightly more confident feel to the tracks, and the sound is a little less frantic and a little more focused, which leads to less unpredictability from song to song but makes for a more unified and powerful album. Songs like the thudding sludge rocker "Taste It" or the slinky, menacing "Outside Tonight" actually show some restraint and prove that the band doesn't have to go all out to have the same spine-tingling impact. Indeed, Awesome Color is still awesome and Electric Aborigines is another first-rate dose of rock & roll thunder.
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You Say...
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| 01. |  |
Eyes of Light |
5:43 |  |
| 02. | |
Already Down |
2:42 | |
| 03. | |
Step Up |
4:04 | |
| 04. | |
Come and Dance |
3:54 | |
| 05. | |
Taste It |
3:51 | |
| 06. | |
Outside Tonight |
5:11 | |
| 07. | |
Do It Right |
4:31 | |
| 08. | |
Burning |
4:19 | |
| 09. | |
The Moon |
5:27 | |
| 10. | |
Evil Rose |
4:28 | |
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Credits
- Michael Troutman - Bass // Michael Troutman - Group Member // Sarah Register - Mastering // Douglas Rice - Engineer // Douglas Rice - Mixing // Justin Allen - Artwork // Derek Stanton - Organ // Derek Stanton - Guitar // Derek Stanton - Vocals // Derek Stanton - Group Member // Allison Busch - Drums // Allison Busch - Group Member
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