I Heart Hiroshima - Cutin Colour EP

Sun 20th Aug, 2006 in Music Reviews

Cut in Colour is the second EP from Brisbane trio I Heart Hiroshima. Forming in mid-2005, I Heart Hiroshima have released two EPs, recorded enough material for a full-length record, lost a guitarist/vocalist, gained a guitarist/vocalist, supported Deerhoof and Broken Social Scene, toured nationally with The Grates, toured interstate with Spod and Sekiden, secured a record deal with Valve Records and become one of Brisbane’s most talked about bands. Not bad for a band who have been together for just a year.

It should be pretty obvious by now that I Heart Hiroshima don’t bother to screw around. Their simple stage setup consists of two guitars, two amps, three drums, two cymbals and no effects pedals. A Three Letter Word For Candy, their first EP was just 14 minutes long. Cut in Colour, the group’s newest EP is four tracks and clocks in at just under 9 minutes. Fortunately, that 9 minutes is nothing less than 9 minutes of wonderfully catchy indie-pop. Hawes and Somers use their two guitar approach to great advantage, generally using one guitar as rhythm and the other guitar for catchy lead riffs and melodies. Patten’s drumming, though stripped down, is wonderfully tight and keeps the band together.

Though they are solid musicians, what really makes I Heart Hiroshima’s style so great are their quirky vocals and lyrics. Somers yelps in a way that is reminiscent of Frank Black’s work on the Pixies’ masterpiece Surfer Rosa. Patten, on the other hand, contributes vocals that are half sweet, half painful. EP highlight “Candy Cut” begins with a strange but catchy guitar riff and showcases duelling vocals between Somers and Patten while “Code Blue” has Somers and Patten singing “I’ve got code blue” back and forth to each other. Possibly the only dissapointment of Cut in Colour is Hawes’ vocals seem to be generally absent. A shame, considering how great they are in a live setting. Cut in Colour is short but sweet and shows some great potential for such a young band. Highly reccomended.