Russian shoegazers Pinkshinyultrablast deafen in Nottingham
Earlier in the day, it is announced that shoegaze and Britpop heroes, Lush, are to reunite for a May 2016 show in London. Is it, therefore, fortune or coincidence that Pinkshinyultrablast, direct descendants of their genuinely exciting noise-pop, arrive in Nottingham as part of a UK tour on the exact same day?
In whichever way the stars have aligned, it’s certainly fortuitous for the 50 or so people who populate the top floor of the trendy, student-orientated Spanky Van Dyke’s. It should be noted that with six simultaneous gigs taking place in Nottingham, including fellow shoegazers Kid Wave and UMO, 50 is not a number to be sniffed at.
Pinkshinyultrablast hail from St. Petersburg, Russia, a city and perhaps country not necessarily known for its shoegaze scene, but that doesn’t stop the five-piece grabbing the genre and making it their own. In fact, they do more than that, expanding on the aforementioned Lush’s driving intensity, thriving on an MBV freak-out, yet also managing to incorporate more modern dream-pop influences, such as Beach House or Beach Fossils. All of this is held together by lead singer Lyubov’s ethereal (sorry) vocals, the language of which is not important, but rather their swirling, hanging nature.
Their 2015 debut ‘Everything Else Matters’ was a lesson in beautiful noise. Tonight at Spanky’s, the noise aspect remains, the venue’s soundsystem struggling to keep up with the savage aural assault. However, as a result, Lyubov’s vocals are lost a little in the mix, their emotive qualities hidden amongst the battering, bass-driven cacophony behind her. This is most noticeable on ‘Umi’, which transitions from a dreamy shoegaze-pop number to a full-on MBV-esque pounding. This is no bad thing, however, and certainly doesn’t detract from a superb hour-long set.
They cut an impressive bunch on stage, superbly energetic and clearly enjoying themselves. They barely acknowledge the crowd but to mumble a final ‘thank you’, but who cares? We’re not here for the small-talk, we’re here for the rumbling bass of ‘Holy Forest’ and the semi-disco ‘Metamorphosis’, which also occasionally verges on a hardcore breakdown. They leave the stage, seemingly all of a sudden, but to huge applause, and rightly so.
Pinkshinyultrablast have come a long way from Russia to play in the UK, and they are all set to go even further with their thoughtful, highly original take on a genre that is now so often plagued with mediocrity. Top marks from this writer.
(Photo by Shaun Gordon)
