Various Artists
"Yeah, it's supposed to sound like that..." CD
Colchester
Recordings
Genres: indie pop, indie rock
Colchester
124a Old Road
Clacton-on-Sea, Essex CO15 3AH
UK
Jan 26 - Feb 1 2004 |
The
shoddy cover art (despite the cool 1891 Ensor picture), the corny
names of the bands, not to mention the fact that compilations of this
nature always, always, always suck, were the perfect indicator
of where my expectations stood before listening to Yeah, it's
supposed to sound like that..., volume one of Colchester's new
comp series. But, of course, expectations are meant to be
shattered - etcetera etcetera so-forth therefore blah blah blah - and,
in the end, obviously, those wacky folks at Colchester proved me wrong
and reminded me what a prejudicial jerk I really am.
This, despite its eclecticism and disjointed nature, is a very
satisfying disc. A whale of a disc. Alright, maybe not a
whale. But it's really quite good. I assure you.
Take the opener, Sean Parker's "Enough to Make You
Scream." Who? Yeah, I hadn't heard of him
either. But, believe it or not, it's a very good indie pop tune
(though it's a tad long at five and a half minutes) - it's got a
slight mod tinge and boasts a wicked, organ-enhanced chorus. Candy
Sniper's "Kill Melody" adds a bit of explosive hardcore
to the mix, cleverly deceiving the listener initially with some
sneakily straightforward guitar licks. Ben Marwood's
"I Don't Want to Do This Anymore," meanwhile, is a glossy
but endearing pop/rock tune that is very pleasant, despite its
angstiness. Frankie Machine's "The Smoking Gun"
is like a less organized Notwist tune - though it's nowhere
near Neon Golden calibre, it's still quite enjoyable and shows
some significant talent.
Also notable is Colchester founder's project The Party doing
a tune called "A Cavalcade of Monkeys," which is a very pleasant,
almost groovy pop song with a lot of style. Kill Dizney's
attitude-packed rocker "Get Active," as well as Conformist's
tape-collage exploration, "Gangsters Code," also impress.
As far as unknown-artist compilations go, Yeah, it's supposed to
sound like that offers some great value. I'm quite
satisfied, and now I'm all prepped for Volume
Two!
86%
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 11 tracks, distributed by the
label, released 2003] |
