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 I don’t know much about this Rainbow Danger Club but they seem pretty popular on the Shanghai music scene at the moment. I’ve seen them play live once and for the most part enjoyed the experience but now comes the more detailed work of inspecting their first album. Presumably you’ll make up your own mind but here’s what I thought. Let the dissection begin:
The album title, ‘Where Maps End’, immediately prompts you to delve into your imagination - and that’s what I’d say the songwriters have done here. There’s a sense of the ‘otherworldly’ that pervades the entire record; something supernatural and ethereal.
Are we building up for a concept album? Perhaps not, but the band has achieved a consistent sound and I’ll admit I did think of Ziggy Stardust and his spaceships on a couple of occasions. There is an abundant offering of 15 tracks to take into consideration here so let’s not jump to any conclusions just yet.
‘Live On In Photographs’ is where the album really begins, seamlessly emerging from its eerie and lyric-less prelude, ‘Invocation’. This tune is broken in two, part one consisting of ghostly vocals and a prog-rock (Led-Zep?) style guitar riff – which eventually makes way for an American teenage rock chant, backed by haunting harmonies.
The third track - Drown The Creatures - which happens to be my favourite, is a joyous and hopeful pop number – again featuring great backing vocals and an all-important danceable rhythm. But this is followed by – and I haven’t made up my mind yet – a potentially pointless musical interlude. Perhaps it serves the purpose of lending potency to its successor, ‘Neighbors On The Rooftops’, probably the standout album track. Anyone else hear shades of the almighty Arcade Fire here? This is a great example of the band’s song-composing talents but if being uber-critical I’d say it could do with more production to iron out a few weaker moments.
Thankfully we do get a delightfully ‘pointful’ musical interlude in the form of the piano-centred ‘Victoria And The Whales’. The album never relents and in ‘Where The Maps End’ a cleverly composed, multi-part song (again is that Jimmy Page on the guitar?) RDC successfully build up to another tuneful chorus halfway in. Not too keen on the synth-vocals though and it’s a bit whacky for my tastes.
There are some futuristic attempts in ‘Passages’ and ‘Cloud City Welcomes You’ and although ‘Enduring Love’ is an old fashioned jazzy piece fit with wah wah trumpets, it sounds like R2D2 from Star Wars is messing about with his mates in the background, adding RDC’s signature ‘unearthly’ component. That said there’s still room on the album for a dose of punk (‘We Can Be Friends’ is a bit like a painful massage with a happy ending…) and some folk (‘Moon Song’, a nice heavy effect over a simple but powerful tune. I like it a great deal but if the band hasn’t been listening to the Flaming Lips recently I’d be well surprised).
After ‘Battleships’, a nightmarish thrash/metal piece arrives the dream-like and epic conclusion to the album, ‘Babies Grow On Trees’. This contemplative song is over nine minutes long - phew! - but luckily only the first half is sustained by music finishing with sounds of the sea.
On the whole I like the songs on this record and it’s an accomplished and valiant effort by a skilful band. But is the album a bit too self-conscious? Is the concept overly contrived? Bands seldom pull-off albums with a strong narrative theme but if successful they are heralded as masterpieces (think Wilco’s ‘Yankee Hotel Foxtrot’). But have Rainbow Danger Club achieved this? Have they been too ambitious? Discuss.
The album definitely deserves to be heard outside of this city’s (sometimes cliquey) music scene. Let’s hope the maps don’t end on the borders of Shanghai for Rainbow Danger Club.
See Rainbow Danger Club on their official site
Download the WHOLE album here
WORDS: RBSL24/7
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Comments
Accountability, please
"But this is followed by – and I haven’t made up my mind yet – a potentially pointless musical interlude."
This is why our reviewers need to have their names attached to what they say. Who is this person? Why do we care if he/she finds it pointless? What credibility do they have with which they judge the creations of others?
It's easy to hide behind "RBSL24/7"; quite another to put your name to your words.
Thanks!
Ivan my man, this is Tom (Thomas Joseph) Hughes. For starters, I take your point completely; I think what you're asking for is entirely reasonable. That said, no one is hiding behind anything on this site. When we started out we had a discussion about how to deal with this issue. What we wanted to avoid was making out that the person writing was overly important somehow; like they had a right to say what was what etc. These are just people interested in and keen to support the local scene in Shanghai - they don't claim to be anything else.
''What credibility do they have with which they judge the creations of others?''
Well, if you mean 'are they directly involved in making/recording music?', then in most cases no, probably not. But does that mean their opinions aren't credible? I would say not, and I'd like to think most people would agree. We don't want people just slating anyone on here, and that does not happen. The review in question was overwhelmingly positive in general, and I think the fact it included a couple of personal negative observations means that that overall sentiment is more meaningful.
In the case of reviews I can see that knowing who's written it is more important, especially to the artists in question. I don't think anyone would have a problem with that. Anyone can comment on anything on here at any time; if knowing the name 'Rob Slater' makes that easier somehow, OK.
Finally, thanks for taking the time to say what's on your mind - that's exactly what I'd like the site to be used for!
Cheers
Thought Police?
Thanks Tom. I too thought it was a fairly measured review and don't reckon this comment to be hugely offensive.
Isn't opinion and constructive criticism important - even if from a lowly nobody? Who wants consistent, bland positivity?
Rob Slater
Tom, Rob, to respond to your
Tom, Rob, to respond to your points..
I wasn't attacking the negativity of the comment itself. Rather, I was attempting to draw attention to the way the comment was offered without any deeper explanation as to why you felt that way, Rob. You called the track a pointless one and immediately moved on, without taking the time to back it up or go into depth. It came across to me like a bit of a potshot, and it didn't seem very fair. Obviously, opinion and constructive criticism are hugely important, as I've previously written. Constructive criticism, however, does more than say "I don't like this."
And about the credibility bit - it's definitely not a matter of musical ability or anything like that. And I apologize if I implied that your contributions aren't valuable. By cred, I mean letting people know things like the type of music you like, for example. So people have an idea of where the writer is coming from, where their tastes lie.
Fair enough
Hi there - all fair enough from my perspective.
I had thought my use of 'potentially' and the fact I hadn't made up my mind about the track clearly showed I was at least still giving it due consideration... Anyway, I see your point and just so you know, I have a lot of respect (and usually a pang of envy) for anyone playing/recording music so wouldn't ever want to be too flippant with reviews.
As for musical ability, I'll have mother send over the Grade 1 piano certificate...
coolio
Yeah, sorry for the miscommunication. I'm glad you're nice and thick-skinned.
I think it'd be helpful for SH247 to have a "Meet Our Reviewers!" page or something. I know T&G say they want to keep the writer out of it, but I think that's the most important part. Just like language is just a means by which we make the subjective somewhat comprehensible to each other, no two people process the same bit of music in exactly the same way. If the readership had an idea of who you people are, where you come from (musically), what you like, what you stay away from, it'd really help contextualize the statements made. Someone who loves Battles or King Crimson, for example, might think "Lego Sunrise" is one of the coolest tracks on the album, while despising a straightforward mass-appeal song like "Neighbors". You feel me? "Lego" is a sick jam, and there are so many interesting layers going on in there for the digesting. I can also see how some could feel that it doesn't belong. I just wanna know WHY you think so. It does a band no good to read "Man, this track doesn't do it for me". But if they see "I think the album could do without Track X because A, B, and C," then that's constructive.
I might get angry and emotional sometimes, but I know we're all on the same team. And thank you for taking the time out of your day to write about the music we make. You don't know how much it means to have someone care enough not only to listen to something you made, but spend time thinking about it too.
I think any consideration has
I think any consideration has to be taken when u realize this was done by a local band. It was recorded (from what I hear) in a tiny dorm room for the most part. It has the sound and quality of a professional album. Kudos to RDC for their epic effort on this one. Without some of the resources of the touring bands in China and the facilities they pulled off a complete and incredibly good album.