BORIS: PINK (2005)
1) Ketsubetsu; 2) Pink; 3)
Sukuriin-no Onna; 4) Betsu-ni Nan Demo Nai; 5) Burakku Auto; 6) Electric; 7)
Nise Bureddo; 8) Nurui Honoo; 9) Roku-o Mitsu; 10) My Machine; 11) Ore-o
Sute-ta Tokoro.
Let us list all the references to other artists
that veteran reviewer Thom Jurek has made in his review of Pink, Boris' first venture into the «accessible» territory of
post-rock composition: Ride, My Bloody Valentine, Isis, Sigur Rós, Nadja, Jesu,
Mono (we go to Japan now), Guitar Wolf, Iggy Pop (we go back into the past now),
MC5, Sunn O)))) (okay, back to the present), and Acid Mothers Temple. That's
12. Okay, now the Pitchfork review by Brandon Stosuy, who do we have here? Sigur
Rós, Isis, Jesu, Melvins, Motörhead, Olivia Tremor Control, Unwound, Drive Like
Jehu... oh no, that's just 8, not counting additional historical references.
The question is, now that Boris have moved into
this «normal» territory, cutting tracks that begin to resemble «songs» every
once in a while, are they still Boris, or are they merely a potpourri of all
these influences, contemporary and archaic alike? Do they have an agenda, or
are they just selling out? Unfortunately, as much as I would like to like Pink, if only for the usual awesomeness
of Wata's guitar tones, not even repeated listens can convince me that the
record ever once rises above the level of kitsch. If this is ironic music, it is too boring to sink
in deep. If it is dead serious music, it is just plain awful.
There's always that third possibility, of
course — that this is simply fun
music. Starting with the title track, it is music that bluntly invites you to
headbang, and at least on one occasion it even invites you to dance (ʽElectricʼ, though, as if
acknowledging the embarrassing nature of the proposition, the track clocks in
at a measly 1:45). Sludgy guitar tones, punkish tempos, screamed vocals — song
after song is a mosher's paradise. Then they slow down and become your usual
Black Sabbath... oh wait, I am falling into the namedropping trap myself.
Well then, here be the problems. First, there
are more vocals here than ever before. They all seem to be delivered by
Takeshi, and frankly, he is awful. His
constant screeching sounds neither angry nor crazy — it is just irritating,
like the nagging of a loudmouthed peddler on the street corner or something. (Actually,
I believe that drummer Atsuo also has sing... er, vocalizing duties, and carries them out with approximately the same
effect). Had all these songs been joined into a single track with all the
vocals wiped off for good, that would have been a big plus.
Second, the introduction of short compositions
does not mean the introduction of good riffs. Well, not entirely true. The
machine-gun riff of ʽPinkʼ (belonging in what I call the ʽBreadfanʼ category
for lack of a better term) is sort of mildly interesting. When you combine
Wata's tone with speedy finger-flashing playing the results are fun, it would be useful to deny
something as obvious. But apart from that, 99% of the riffs still sound as if they have an efficient
software piece that deconstructs old Sabbath riffs and puts them back together,
with predictably worse results because the software has no idea of the kind of
chord sequences that really gets your
goat. I mean, listen to ʽElectricʼ — it's like a cross between ʽSupernautʼ and
ʽN.I.B.ʼ and... something else. Esnes on sekam ti tub looc sdnuos ti. If you
know what I mean.
Supposedly the most important compositions on
the album are the two longest numbers — ʽKetsubetsuʼ, a «regal» drone piece
that really does conjure all these
references in Jurek's review (yes, even Sigur Rós, with its choral harmonies
and ringing rainbow-y guitar dubs over all the noise), and the closing ten-minute
gallop piece which I would probably mistake for a lost And You Will Know Us By
The Trail Of Dead composition if not for the annoying Japanese vocals. On
second thought, though, I probably wouldn't, because those guys would have
chickened out when it came to basing a ten-minute track on exactly two musical
ideas. In any case, both tracks are deadly dull — unfortunately, I cannot share
the enthusiasm, so common among reviewers, over the mad fury of the opening
minutes of ʽOre-o Sute...ʼ because it is hard for me to endorse something just
because it is mad and furious. If it went on for sixty minutes, that would at
least be an artistic statement. Since it only goes on for ten (I think there's
also an extended version that throws on eight more minutes of feedback), it's
just a bore.
On the whole, a drastic thumbs down and a radical
disagreement here with tons of glowing reviews on RYM and other sites that
often extol this as Boris' finest hour — much of which probably has to do with
the fact that it was the band's first widely distributed US album. In this
humble reviewer's opinion, Pink simply
shows that Boris are spiritually incapable of producing genuine «rock»-type
material. One of the few dissonant reviews on RYM put it short and sweet: «Stick
to drone guys». Couldn't agree more.
OHhhhhh...SHNAP!
ReplyDeleteSo I listened to the song Pink - Boris pales compared to the ZZZ's, also from Japan. Check Dystopia: the screeching is superior, the tones are more awesome (that growling bass is unbeatable), the drumkit is bashed more and the distortion is more effective.
ReplyDelete