From Melbourne Australia, Flyying Colours’ sound is straight out of the 90’s…in a good way. Their debut self-title EP opens with a wondrous guitar riff that would have been right at home on Siamese Dream, and continues with it’s 90’s grunge/shoegaze influenced sound from there.
First single Wavy Gravy, and the opening track Like You Said are clear highlights. The 4 chord distorted riff that blasts out to launch this debut is one of the best heard in years. The finer points of the remaining tracks become more apparent after a few listens, the songwriting subtleties rewarding multiple listens. The ‘yy’ spelling, and the fairly uninspiring cover art can be forgiven, for this is one very exciting band to come out of the Melbourne shoegaze/psych-rock scene.
The 2nd track, Wavy Gravy, is an obvious first single. An upbeat and catchy radio friendly song, it was given good rotation in Australia upon its release. The male/female double vocals in the verse, along with the washed out guitar licks are continuing themes on this EP, and used to great effect here.
[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://youtu.be/q9wnpiiMUJs[/youtube]
The EP ends with a great finisher, Bugs. With a nice long instrumental introduction, this vocally sparse track allows the instruments to take centre stage. This is Flyying Colours at their best, subtle and moody, melodic guitars the driving force.
It would seem that Flyying Colours’ musical tastes defy their age, however far from sounding like a re-hash of an older sound, it is genuine and fresh. Whilst the shoegaze influence is obvious, the original meaning of this genre is somewhat lost. Far from a band on stage staring at their shoes, Flyying Colours are known for their energetic and engaging live shows.
Whilst not glaringly obvious sound wise, there is definite Nirvana moments here. There is a Nevermind t-shirt in a few press shots; the opening scene of their clip for Wavy Gravy is someone floating in a pool, not quite a baby al la Nevermind, but pretty close. And singer Brodie J Brümmer certainly has the hair and stage presence of the late Kurt Cobain. Without being imitators, you can hear the influence of Smashing Pumpkins, Swervedriver, Sonic Youth,and Dandy Warhols.
The EP has just been released in the UK under the Club AC30 label, specialist in bands in the shoegaze/dream pop genre. Flyying Colours have found themselves a good home to launch their music in the UK. Keep an eye out for them at a venue near year, most definitely not staring at their shoes.
Nick Cheek
