Ringo Deathstarr: Pure mood (Club AC30, 2015)

Guitarras y Ensoñaciones

Los tejanos Ringo Deathstarr han puesto desde hace tiempo el piloto automático para elaborar discos que rozan la perfección del Shoegaze. Deudores reconocidos y absolutos de los grandes totems del género (Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, Ride…), RD tienen guiños en su último trabajo a todos ellos, pero también a grupos como Smashing Pumpkins (Heavy Metal suicide) o a la facción más Dream (Guilt, Dream again, Show me the truth of your love, California car collection) del género.
Un trabajo que no tiene desperdicio y que los amantes del Shoegaze reconocerán como uno de los momentos cumbre de una banda que se ha establecido como un referente moderno del Shoegaze.

“Ringo Deathstarr‘s 2015 effort Pure Mood is another excellent example of how to make a modern-age shoegaze album. Pile layers of fuzzy, grungy guitar noise on top of sugary tunes sung in breathless tones, add the occasional twist, and stir. It’s a formula bands have been using since Kevin Shieldsbought his first Jazzmaster, but as on previous albums, RDS show the kind of melodic skill and sonic ability here that allow them to leap ahead of the pack of shoegaze imitators and wannabes. Along with the raft of songs are perfect male/female vocal harmonies and swooning hooks — the kind of stuff they’ve been doling out for years. The album takes a couple of stylistic left turns that are bracing and welcome. “Heavy Metal Suicide” pretty much lives up to its title, swaggering darkly with the guitars giving some serious metal attitude in the verses. The choruses switch back to gauzier realms, but the punch of the guitars helps give the album a boost right out of the gate — especially coming as it does after one of the album’s dreamier interludes, the aptly titled “Dream Again.” That song’s wispy atmosphere is very 4AD and, along with the also very cloud-like and drifty “California Car Collection,” shows another side of the band’s sound. So does the super poppy “Old Again.” Diversions aside, the real power of the album is in songs like “Frisbee” and “Never” that pummel the listener with guitar noise and giant melodies. There are plenty of bands doing roughly the same thing as Ringo Deathstarr, but there are few who do it as well as they do. Pure Mood is proof of that” (All Music)

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Ringo Deathstarr: God´s dream (Club AC30, 2014)

El último trabajo de los tejanos Ringo Deathstarr es un tanto errático. Primero porque es un trabajo editado primeramente en Japón y sin fecha aún de edición en Europa y resto del mundo.
Segundo, porque ya desde las primeras escuchas, la impresión que me produce es la de un disco más bien surgido tras la reunión de material diverso e incluso de descartes. No quiero pecar de injusto con un grupo que realmente me gusta, pero God´s Dream es un álbum que no me llama demasiado la atención. Han invitado a músicos como Adam Franklin (Swervedriver) para colaborar en Nowhere o a Jeff Schroeder (Smashing Pumpkins) para Chainsaw morning. Y precisamente la influencia de la banda de Billy Corgan es una de las que me vino a la cabeza tras escuchar Gods dream. Y también precisamente la megalomanía que les condujo a su fin. Espero que RD no caiga en ese mismo error, ahora que ya han conseguido sonar en parte a aquellos…

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“Austin shoegazers Ringo Deathstarr have released their new mini album ‘Gods Dream’ in Japan viaVinyl Junkie. Hardcore fans will want to pick up the Japanese version as it includes bonus tracks (‘Romantic Comedy’, ‘Frisbee’ and ‘Convertible’). The rest of us need to sit tight til the global release date next month, coupled with fresh tour news. The first single ‘Flower Power‘ impressed and the rest of the EP doesn’t disappoint. Guest guitarists Adam Franklin (Swervedriver) and Jeff Schroeder (The Smashing Pumpkins) add their talent to the diverse collection of songs. ‘Gods Dream’ keeps you guessing, with ambient lullabies (‘Shut Your Eyes’) contrasted with bold rock numbers and the borderline industrial ‘Nowhere’. Without a doubt, this release includes some of Ringo Deathstarr’s best work. Take a listen to the dreamy title track featuring Alex Gehring on vocals, backed by some brilliant guitar tones” (Sounds Better with Reverb)

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Ringo Deathstarr: Mauve (2012)

Artefactos Sensitivos

Cuatro líneas para hablar de este segundo álbum de Ringo Deathstarr puesto que casi todos habréis oído hablar ya de él u os  habrá llegado algún tipo de onda sobre Mauve, el segundo larga duración de los tejanos. Es evidente que no vamos a hablar de su principal referencia. Es obvio que RD pueden pasar por ser, hoy por hoy, la mejor banda émula de Mi Valentín Sangriento. Es más que evidente que el Isn´t anything es algo más que un disco de cabecera para los Deathstarr. Pero este Mauve tiene personalidad propia. Personalmente, soy de la opinión de que con él han superado la sensación de búsqueda de Colour Trip (2011). 
Mauve es un gran disco. Un trabajo con personalidad propia, perfectamente estructurado en tres partes: planteamiento inicial, en el que se dejan llevar por la furia distorsionada, y el pedal turbo se pone a mil: Rip, Burn, Drain, Slack... son los temas que nos ponen sobre aviso de que algo muy bueno se está cocinando.
El contrapunto sonoro se inicia con Brightest star y la brillantísima y fantasmagórica Drag. Y hago un inciso para decir que éste es uno de los mejores temas que servidor haya podido oír en los últimos tiempos en lo que a Shoegaze-Dream-Pop se refiere: ensoñación, Psicodelia… todo tiene cabida. Este intervalo Dream continúa con temas como Girls we know y Nap time.
Pero está claro que Ringo Deathstarr prefieren para este disco los clásicos loops de guitarra y los bucles sonoros (Fifteen, Girls we know, Waste, Do you wanna?, Please don´t kill yourself). La éterea Wave es la encargada de cerrar este Mauve, un grandioso disco heredero, sí, digámoslo, de la mejor tradición sonora de My Bloody Valentine, pero también de la de Slowdive, con todo el poso sonoro que encontramos en la mitad del disco.
Si se planea una reunión de los MBV originales para este comienzo de año, ¿por qué no quedarnos con su legado musical en manos del mejor grupo que lo representa en la actualidad?

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“Mention the name Ringo Deathstarr and it’s fair to say the words ‘My’, ‘Bloody’ and ‘Valentine’ won’t be far behind. When early singles compilation Sparkler first appeared three years ago such comparisons were rife, and last year’s first full long player, Colour Trip, only served to inflame such accusations that maybe the Austin trio wore their influences a little too closely to their chests. Unfair perhaps, given that in 2012 there’s very little which passes for being wholly original. Predictable also, as any band aligning themselves to such a storied genre will always have to live with being compared to what’s gone beforehand.
It’s to their credit, then, that against such adversity they’ve discovered something approaching a signature sound, but also in doing so created an identity all of their own. The dual vocals of Elliott Frazier and Alex Gehring now instantly recognisable, coupled with a guitar sound that while not being a million miles away from the Creation sound of ’91 (because what we’d rather call it than shoegaze) confirms the band’s suggestion when quizzed by DiS last summerthat they’re a punk rock band at heart. With over half the 13 songs that make up Mauveclocking in at the two-and-a-half minutes mark or under, anyone expecting a tremelo heavy collection of lengthy monologues may be slightly disappointed. And rightly so, because Ringo Deathstarr have never been that kind of band.
Where the Ringo Deathstarr EP that much of Sparkler was comprised of – and to a lesser extent Colour Trip – conveyed the sound of a band literally finding its feet; indeed the personnel that recorded the former being an entirely different line-up bar Frazier; Mauve feels like a stark realization in the band’s development. It’s easy to look back now and attempt to pinpoint the exact moment where Ringo Deathstarr’s embryonic vision became reality but last November’s collaboration with Jason Reece from And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead seems as good a place as any. Freed of the customary feedback and distortion we’d come to expect, it heralded a brave, new, altogether more direct approach instead. And more importantly, welcomed the structural diatribe of why-say-it-in-five-minutes-when-you-can-say-it-in-two?
And so onto Mauve, as with its predecessor produced by Frazier, himself becoming more established as a producer-cum-engineer in his own right if his recent work with fellow Austin dwellers Galpals is anything indication. Opener and lead single ‘Rip’ takes its cue from Adam And The Ants’ ‘Feed Me To The Lions’ (seriously), Gehring’s distinctive yet seductive vocal taking it into more pastoral waters. It’s the brutally eloquent ‘Burn’ and Wipers-esque ‘Drain’ that ably demonstrate Ringo Deathstarr’s new found fervour. Neither hangs around long enough to outstay their welcome. Both aim for and penetrate the jugular to maximum effect. Similarly the Frazier-led ‘Slack’ could best be described as punk rock played through distortion pedals, yet fragile on the inside summed up best by its “Do you feel what I feel?”refrain.
The dreamy ‘Brightest Star’ is Mauve’s curveball. Processed beats collide with floaty atmospherics and Gehring’s choral coos. Clocking in at just 13 seconds short of six minutes, it’s a radiant interval from the full-on excess of the rest of Mauve. While the eastern-tinged ‘Drag’ treads a similar woozy path, the potent mix of ‘Fifteen’ and ‘Waste’ continue Mauve’s fast and furious vein, each kicking and screaming where previously its creators would have laid back waiting in a state of relaxation.
“Sometimes I know right from wrong” declares Frazier on the Dinosaur Jr meets The Wedding Present ‘Do You Wanna’, while the intuitive ‘Please Don’t Kill Yourself’ is as heartfelt a plea as its title suggests. Of course there is a possibility that at 13 tracks, Mauve is maybe just a little too long to be digested in one sitting. However, with nothing masking itself as filler here, it would be difficult to trim anything off without Mauve losing any of its impetus or impact.
Indeed there’s very little negative to say about Mauve, other than Ringo Deathstarr may have created a monster – in a good way of course – for themselves. The challenging part is where they go next” (drownedinsound.com)

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Ringo Deathstarr: Shadow (Deep Cut Remix, 2012)

Deep Cut no sólo son autores de uno de los mejores discos del año pasado, su increíble Disorientation, sino que también son creadores de remezclas como ésta de un gran single de Ringo Deathstarr. Os dejo el Soundcloud para que podáis descargarlo gratuitamente.

Ringo Deathstarr: Colour Trip (2011)

 

Colour Trip es la confirmación de una banda que había ido anticipando varios singles y 7″ previos a la aparición de su disco de debut, un discazo tremendo en el que se muestra todo el crisol de influencias que los Deathstarr han ido acumulando en su -aún- breve existencia. Los chicos han sabido dar forma a un variado ramillete de sonidos que parten inexorablemente del Shoegaze de My Bloody Valentine (Imagine hearts), con sus clásicos bucles y ese ritmo lisérgico. Nuestra vuelta a la década de los noventa está más que garantizada escuchando temas como éste o como Two girls, Kaleidoscope, Tambourine girl, Chloe, Never drive o You don´t listen. Si escucháramos la voz de John Peel presentando los temas de este Colour Trip, nadie nos diría que estamos en el año 2011. El revivalismo noventero ha emergido con fuerza, y Ringo Deathstarr pueden ser uno de sus máximos exponentes. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart son los máximos representantes del Dream-Pop más ruidoso y Ringo Deathstarr lo serían del Shoegaze más melódico, aunque eso sí, con agudas aristas Noise. Pero los tejanos también tienen su corazoncito Dreamy y son capaces de facturar temazos como So high o Tambourine girl que harían derretirse a un témpano de hielo. La fórmula de bucles, ruido, alternancia voca chica/chico, las guitarras claramente influenciadas por Kevin Shields no nos son desconocidas, pero la fórmula parece inagotable, y no parece mostrar ningún signo de decadencia. Antes bien, cada vez son más las bandas que resultan permeadas por el que ya se ha convertido en un sonido clásico. ¡Y que sea por mucho tiempo! La colección de temas que componen este Colour Trip tiene toda la pinta de convertirse en uno de los discos favoritos del año para TJB. Por cierto, el nombre del grupo y lo que sugiere me parecen muy interesantes.

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“Sporting a name that sounds like the winning shot in a game of hashtag tennis – #darksidebeatles bands to come surely include Dartha My Dear, Maul McCartney and Sexy Vader – Ringo Deathstarr should be a zany proposition, but they couldn’t be more serious or, indeed, singleminded. Put simply, Colour Trip is a straight-up tribute to all your favourite shoegaze and scuzzy indie records of the last 25 years. Taking My Bloody Valentine as their Space Odyssey monolith, this Texan trio set about lovingly filleting Kevin Shields’ elusive droners for hazy tidal waves of noise and dreamy snatches of melody, stopping off along the way to grab a surge of Dinosaur Jr, a bass thrum of Cure, a rasp of Jesus And Mary Chain – you get the picture.
That doesn’t mean these songs are brazen steals. The sonics are familiar throughout, but the tunes are defiantly their own. And they’re strong. Colour Trip is a cracking 30-odd minutes of short, sweet, fuzzy pop that finds captivating variety in its narrow frame of reference, darting from full-cannon rock assault on ‘Do It Every Time’ to beatless drifting on ‘Day Dreamy’ to near-Black Sabbath aggression on ‘Tambourine Girl’. Male/female vocals are shared between guitarist Elliott Frazier and bassist Alex Gehring, their range extending all the way from coy murmur to threatening murmur. No matter, they’re there to bring a human strain to the cacophony.
Colour Trip plays out as a game of two halves, its first six tracks floating on the more pliant side of murky rock, exemplified by single ‘So High’ which is almost Primitives in its jaunty catchiness, before ‘Tambourine Girl’ flicks that steroid switch. The second half flexes biceps, ‘Chloes”s vast stride darkening Elliott’s leering whisper, ‘You Don’t Listen’ racking stadium synths over raging guitars. It’s a gradual hardening that holds the attention.
Only at the end is everything stripped away, Gehring cooing spectral lullaby ‘Other Things’ over some unexpected Jam & Lewis beats. See, it can’t all be slotted into a pigeonhole, but when Frazier manages to say “never understand” on two separate tracks then apes Bobby Gillespie’s ‘Come Together’ “kiss me”s on ‘Never Drive’, the influences slap you in the face. So why not just return to the originals? Well, there’s enough vim about Ringo Deathstarr to give them a chance – if it’s honestly crafted pastiche you’re after, they’ll do just fine. At least until Palpatine Pam come along” (thelineofbestfit.com)

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