You Should Check Out Explode Into Colors
December 4th, 2009
Explode Into Colors. Is that a fantastic name or what? (Don’t say ‘what’.) It combines the raw unpredictable energy of an eruptive blast with the dynamism and vigor of a multihued existence. And as band name syntax goes, it cleverly capitalizes on the oft-abused, seldom-successful phraseology approach: it’s a sentence, with a verb and a subject and just three words long. Yet it’s also the name of an entity. I love that; and I love it even more when envisioning its action. Whether we like to admit it or not, band names matter to us (just check all the recent hoopla over Starfucker as evidence). When so much is in (cyber)print nowadays and we’re sifting through seemingly endless bands, seeing and reading a band name can have just as much impact on us as the actual music, much like a wine label or book cover. I know, I know, we’re not supposed to be judging books by their covers, but we’re certainly allowed to let them pique our interest. Explode Into Colors, with that rare moniker combination of top-notch imagery and distinctive phrasing, does just that.
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But how’s the music, you say? Well, would I be blathering on if it wasn’t any good? Not likely. Sprouting from that relentless little sister city to the south, Portland, the band is a trio of ladies dead set on conjuring your ghastly spirit with subversive galloping grooves, neo-primitive drum roundhouses, and banshee-friendly, trance-like vocal calisthenics. Throw in the ever-popular melodica ( “blow-organ”, if you must), some well-placed cowbell, a DIY aesthetic and the all-too-familiar PDX groundswell and you’ve got one spine-tingling musical séance. It’s as if the future ghosts of dub’s forefathers returned to try their hands at feminist afro-punk.
- Claudia, Lisa, & Heather sportin’ Sword + Fern jewelry
Claudia Meza, who’s creepy, hair-raising bass lines could easily score underground arthouse films all by themselves, spirals her phantasmal yelps to scintillating heights. The way she releases her end-syllables into the ether is pure hypnosis. Lisa Schonberg, the sit-down percussionist, and Heather Treadway, the stand-up percussionist, collaborate on beats and noise to form an ancient foundation that sounds as much forward-thinking as it does familiar. They’re inventive and spry and exciting. This is the music we need to elevate from the underground.
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Currently, the band has only three 7″ records out for sale, but I’ve heard rumors of a full length coming out next year on Kill Rock Stars. You can catch the explosion Sunday December 13th at the Vera Project with labelmates the Thermals.
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