If you like The Stooges, you'll like Awesome Color. Any of the eight tracks off their self-titled debut would have melted perfectly into 1970's Fun House. But they bring their own raw and youthful energy, and you won't feel cheated listening.
The threesome is also a bit of a conundrum. They're young, pretty and wear bright, vibrant colors, a look that feels ill-suited to the sludge and grudge of '70s rock. That's one of the reasons I like them — they don't feel compelled to fill a role or contrive an image, but instead have carved out a niche of their own and don't care if it makes sense to no one else.
Also, the band formed in The Stooges' hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan (and now resides in New York City). One member actually grew up in the same neighborhood as Ron Asheton — Awesome Color's influence is no mystery.
Thanks to Thurston Moore, you've probably at least heard of Awesome Color by now. He produced the new record (out on his Ecstatic Peace label), leaving it full and loose, slashing and slaying. He took the group (also influenced by MC5, Blue Cheer and Black Sabbath) on the road as Sonic Youth's opening act on a tour running through the end of the summer
Through and through, the debut is rough, ragged and raw, drenched in guttural howling that escapes huge and ominous from a baby-faced frontman. Opener "Grown" grinds and repeats itself like "T.V. Eye" (from Fun House), while "Free Man" coos, snaps, then crunches like a Sonic Youth cut. Incorporating wiry, manic horns and screeching feedback, "Hat Energy" brings to mind James Chance and other proto-punk experimentation. Together, it's an excellent display of primal energy, as well as a sincere desire to abandon all rules and plain rip it up.
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