Pinkshinyultrablast-Grandfeathered (2016)

Pinkshinyultrablast-Grandfeathered (2016)

By: Erreh Svaia

Russia might be in entering into really dark clouds these days, overdosing on authoritarianism, nationalism, bureaucratic corruption, aggressive foreign policies and economic sanctions, a not too dreamy scenario for the Northern bear, that could turn into true nightmare sooner or later, but not everything is grim nowadays on Mother Russia, Saint Petersburg is still Russia's door to Europe and to the West, giving us a good glimpse into what could be the country´s brightest side, no wonder that some of its notorious musical acts have that reached a sort of universality that is slowly been embraced by the masses.

Pinkshinyultrablast, What a name! Surely Russians like things big! It might be a name hard to remember the first or second time you hear it, but once you get immersed into the colorful narcoleptic universe of this Russian band, is a fact that you won't forget it again, as the band sound immediately stays on the mind creating endless colorful clouds of sound, working almost like a pretty drug that one could find hard getting rid of.

It's no surprise that part of the origins of that sound comes from the south of Europe, France to be exact, as Stereolab and its dreamy sound is easily identified on some musical passages of the band, and perhaps it was the Marxist rhetoric of Stereolab that made the initial bond, who knows? And oh, there's also that Cocteau Twins flavor all over the band that makes Pinkshinyultrablast not your average shoegaze band but something definitely better, something that comes from melting a wide range of things all together and spraying them all over in a sonic canvas that could be your equivalent to Jackson Pollock on drugs on a very happy day.

Singer Lyubov Soloveva without a doubt is a show stealer, as her vocals quickly recalls the heavenly vocal instrument of none other than the great Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins, her voice is obviously one of the main assets of the band, becoming almost a instrument on its own, with Lyubov going deep into the hazy worlds of mouth music and really abstract singing, also is impossible not to notice the great drum and bass interplay between Igor on the four strings and Sergey on drums, giving the band a perfect sense of dynamics and allowing for noisy passages and the more subtle one to inhabit seamlessly on the same song, going really near to thunderous math rock at times.

Although opener Initial nods a lot to the world of electronica, featuring the godly voice of Lyubov, on Glow Vastly dissonant guitar and powerful drumming are our guest into something heavy and abrasive, recalling at times the devastating work of shoegaze legends My Bloody Valentine, while on I Catch You Napping, krautrock might be a more adequate reference.

There are lots of great tunes here, like in the near punk blast of Comet Marbles, or the cuasi-goth pop/post punk leanings of The Cherry Pit, that clearly show the attitude of a band not afraid of going to certain weird extremes, the band is lethal and heavy, managing an admirable skill to turn beauty into something aggressive without losing the purity and the heavily detailed musical arrangements, Russia might be a synonymous of a cold and merciless winter these days, but Pinkshinyuktrablast are synonymous of a colorful rainbow shining over a bright blue sky in Saint Petersburg, heading to the West and all over the world.