The Color Turning

Good Hands Bad Blood

(Softdrive)

Record Review by Marcel Feldmar

It’s been a few years since I sat down and listened to my old Codeine records. I think I’ve revisited Low a little more recently, but before I discovered Low I would spend a few too many sad and lonely nights listening to my Codeine. I mention that, because pretty much all I can think of for the first couple of minutes of this CD is how much I actually used to enjoy that. Then the song shifts and breaks into a little more of those slightly British arena dream pop grooves, and what can I say, my Codeine buzz is gone.

I don’t know if this is going to hurt the band more than help them, at least in my ears, but this band is releasing this on Scott Weiland’s label. Perhaps that does nothing for you, but for me it slightly taints the authenticity that I want to hear in a band that’s reaching for this particular kind of atmospheric and lofty arena rolling sound.

The musicians play well, the songs all come together, and the songs reach out into the sky to take on the clouds, but the actual lift off keeps getting delayed. I’m not sure if this band wants to be standing next to Radiohead, or following Angels and Airwaves.

If this band continues pushing along the Thom Yorked edge, well, good for them, but that’s a hard band to follow, and right now I feel like I’m listening to an almost muzaked version of Pablo Honey with all the air let out of the rock and roll tires. The Color Turning has some hooks in there, caught up in a little too much flash, and the sudden attempts at throwing out a little AFI-inspired scream does nothing to really solidify where this band is coming from or where they want to go.

Perhaps this is the sound of a young band, yearning and learning and growing into something wonderful and new. Perhaps with the next release, the prog rock keyboards will slide a little more dream pop, the emo screamo will be a little more subdued, and if they can fuzz up the guitars and keep pushing towards the heights that they are seemingly trying to reach, I think there could be some great songs.

Don’t get me wrong, the songs are good, and definitely better than some of the other hip new sounds coming from other bands these days, I just feel that these boys are playing it pretty safe with what they’ve got, and could do a lot more instead of hanging around in the footprints left by Coldplay, and that ever-present Radiohead shadow.