Ringo Deathstarr first appeared four years ago. Hitting the ground running with a song entitled ‘Some Kind Of Sad,’ which out-MaryChained the Jesus and Mary Chain, they released a self-titled five track EP and left the world wondering what would happen next. Now after a couple of singles, here comes their debut album, that the feeling is one of vindication: that these guys who promised so much right from their first encounter have truly delivered with their debut album.
There’s a lot of shoegazing going on here, with nods to My Bloody Valentine, Lush and Ride, as well as to more grungier icons like Dinosaur Jr. The song titled are classic shoegazing, too -’Kaleidoscope’ ‘Day dreaming and recent single ‘So High.’ So is it simplu a pastiche of classic albums like Bug, Loveless and Nowhere? No. It feels absolutely fresh, exciting and utterly vital. the male/female vocals play off each other brilliantly.I’ve played this album several times already and don’t see any reason to stop. Most impressively, there is not a weak track here; each track stands on its own as well as making up a very cohesive whole.
For an album by anyone, it would be good. For a debut album, it’s mightily impressive. Ringo Deathstarr have lived up to the promise of that debut EP and produced one of the albums of the year.
