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Berlin’s “The History of Colour TV” formed in 2010 as a solo act and evolved into the band they are now. This is their first proper album, out on the excellent Texas imprint, Saint Marie Records.
The opening track, “Let’s Get Sick”, is strongly reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine, with its woozy, messed up sonics. That changes right at the moment when the singer is blended into the mix seamlessly, but the tribute to the pioneers who started it all is obvious. That melds right into my favorite track on this release, “I Knew it Was Wrong But I Did It Anyway.” It is a gorgeous slab of post-MBV dream pop, and contains beautifully damaged guitars and bruised vocals buried under clouds of reverb. It scratches that shoegaze itch that I never seem to lose, even after hearing so many bands in this genre.
And then there is “Badnite”, aka “1-800-Badnite”, which also appears on Saint Marie’s double shoegaze compilation, Static Waves. I adore the ominous bass and 80s keyboard sheen that wash over me on hearing it. It builds to a gradual crescendo that kills in the best way possible. The band employs more keyboard textures than the usual guitar heard in shoegaze, but that has become more commonplace in this genre, setting it apart and making it memorable. And though the vocals are generally buried deep in the mix, it’s patently obvious that the singer has a great voice. On “SXRX”, the band takes a nod from the Mew prog camp on its quieter passages, which only works in their favor.
Most shoegaze bands don’t rest on their lyrical laurels, but choose to focus on sonic majesty instead. And that is perfectly OK in this age of Auto Tune and manufactured music. The beauty of good shoegaze rests in how it hits you, and this one bowls me over.
