Coloursound

COLOURSOUND IS the innocently monikered collective put together early last year by former Cult guitarist Billy Duffy and Mike Peters, one time spike-topped frontman with ’80s Welsh outfit The Alarm. (And if that opening sentence doesn't strike fear and loathing into the hearts of most right thinking music fans, then just wait till you hear the album.) For the record the band also includes Craig Adams (The Mission, Sisters Of Mercy) and Steve Grantly, one time drummer with a later incarnation of Stiff Little Fingers.

Given the combined CV's of the line-up, the sound is predictably rooted in the stodgy goth/punk/metal wastelands of the 1980's. Here, though, they add a good dose of sweeping epic mysticism and neo-hippie philosophizing. Numbers like 'Heavy Rain' and 'Under The Sun' could pass for Cult standards in the 'She Sells Sanctuary' vein (which Coloursound reportedly perform live). On 'This Life', Peters sounds even more like Bono than he did back when The Alarm were hanging off the coat-tails of the U2/Simple Minds/ Big Country triumvirate. But the worst offender here by far comes with the preposterous bombast of 'Alive' where over a reverb-drenched riff Peters boasts. "I'm so spiritual, I can hear God speaking with Angels/I'm wired to the light that's connected to my mind."

Only on 'View From A Different Window' and the album's closer, 'Fade In Fade Out Fade Away', where they lay off the effects rack and don some acoustics, is there the remotest hint of a song. Even then they sound like nothing more than accomplished buskers.

Come back Zerra One – all is forgiven!