12:52 AM - Colour Music @ Union Hall 11/28/07
In the week leading up to Stillwater, Oklahoma-based Colour Music's debut NY performances I (along with many others, I presume) received a number of seemingly personal Myspace messages and emails informing me of their impending arrival. Of course I hit delete, flagged as spam (sorry guys), and just straight up ignored their pleas, since I saw them on a number of accounts and figured they were just blanketing everybody in the area and thus probably weren't any good. Obviously, this was a mistake. *Though it brings to mind a good question: how much promotion is too much promotion, and what kinds are appropriate in what amounts?* As luck would have it, one of the shows that Colour Music was promoting was with Via Audio (is there a bidding war yet?) at Union Hall, so I was going to be there anyway. This was the first sign that they might not be all that bad, as the booking over there is pretty reliable and you can usually assume that even if the band playing is a total unknown that they're worth getting to know. When I got to the club the band members were standing out front in white lab coats handing out flyers and swedish fish, trying to lure people in to the show. I wouldn't say their efforts were all that successful, as the crowd downstairs was pretty thin, such that during the part of their set where the singer came around to give out hugs during the intro to one of their songs, I'm pretty sure he got to everybody in the room. Oh, and he happened to be wearing a knotted gray mess on his head that was supposed to be a brain. His bandmates each had their roles too: the heart, the reproductive system, the colon (Colin), and the left ear. Their between-song prerecorded narration indicate which organs the next tune would stimulate, and I'm pretty sure it was correct each time. Pretentious? Perhaps. But definitely funny and lucky for them their music and show is more than good enough to let them get away with it. I haven't even gotten to the music yet, have I? Well think the current sound of the Flaming Lips (convenient, since they share a home state and management with them) with a bit of the sweet quirkyness and iressistable singalong catchiness of the Unicorns. It's a good combination, and it comes across about the same live and on record, so either way you win. What I've learned from this band is that people in Oklahoma must all be wacky and ridiculous. I'm thinking I should visit. For more info and some laughs (check out the band members) make your way over to the Colour Music myspace page. Since they don't seem to make any songs available for free download anywhere, I'll have to recommend that you first buy their Yellow ep and then immediately listen to "Rock n' Roll Polar Bear".
Comments
Post a comment on Colour Music @ Union Hall 11/28/07
