Album review: Ringo Deathstarr - Colour Trip

More effort and imagination surely went into these Austin-based debutantes’ name than their squalling sound. Colour Trip or muddy slurry?

Recorded in a studio in the trio’s native Austin, Texas, Colour Trip may set sail for new sonic territory, but ends up floundering in familiar waters.

The 11 tracks of shoegazing, sonic squall and refracted vocals will be familiar to fans of My Bloody Valentine, and as elements of The Cure and - strangely - The Raveonettes surface at points, it’s clear this ain’t no New World they’ve discovered.

Yes, the knashing waves of electric guitar on Chloe do engender a pleasing solipsis, but so much of this is too short of chemistry, attitude, melody or originality to satisfy.

The lyrics on Never Drive are sighed out like a relieved female Speak’n’Spell that’s finally made it to retirement, over the now-familiar wall of guitar, wash of synths and insistent drums.

Lead single So High’s summery guitar and androgynous boy-girl exchanges give way to a garage rock chassis and fuzz-pop atmospherics like a heavenly Raveonettes, but it proves frustratingly toothless.

They sign off with Other Things, where a rather club-footed attempt at poetic whimsy (“So what if we don’t have money/We have some other things/We know we’ve got each other babe/And that’s the important thing”) is plopped into a watery grave of wispy electronica.

Disappointingly dull rather than out-and-out bad.

2 stars