Pinkunoizu, which means “pink noise” in Japanese, is a Danish group that describes its sound as “lo-fi, high-life, modern composition music, nu-folklore, asian 60’s pop and future post-apocalyptic underwater rock.” Not all the elements of that manifesto are apparent on the still enjoyable 3-song Peep but it’s actually the precursor for a full length album coming next year on Full Time Hobby records.
The first track on Peep, “Time Is Like A Melody”, could reasonably be called ‘underwater lo-fi’. It immediately evokes Animal Collective with its submerged, repetitive vocals, background reverb and looping electric guitar. The latter reminds me a little of the Malian guitar style, especially played over the simple, clicking percussion. This one is dreamy and peaceful, and also the only song under 3 minutes on the EP.
The second track, “Everything is Broken or Stolen”, is by far the best. Just under 8 minutes long, this song is a wonderland of synthy organ, jangling African percussion, quivering ambient programming, whirring, ticking and bursts of television static. A circular rhythm pulses through the entire track and makes me envision spacemen marching through a jungle. My favorite part is when the sleepy female vocals emerge around 4 minutes in; they change the dynamic and seem to cast a spell over everything else. There is a spacey, psychedelic organ run that takes off afterwards as the drumming gets louder, and then the spacemen are dancing in the jungle. Finally, only the drums are left at the end, clanking and rattling and fading away. When it’s all over, I’m left feeling like I’ve actually traveled somewhere.
The final track, “Dairy Queen”, is a bit of a let-down in contrast. It’s even longer, but with much less reason for being so. Almost 11 minutes long, the song is very, very slow for more than half that time, pulling itself along with barely-there vocals and occasional sounds like flutes trilling. It melts into a sea of reverb and effects about halfway through, and becomes almost creepy before it suddenly breaks into an oriental melody on the cello. It’s hard to figure out what is meant to hold this one together, especially by the cluttered, crazy ending. It’s hard to pin this one down as an actual song as opposed to a surreal score.
It’s not hard to imagine then that the group’s members were previously in the experimental Le Fiasko. At the moment, there are no tour dates for the U.S. but I’ll keep an eye out. I would love to hear “Everything is Broken or Stolen” live.
Image courtesy of Tell All Your Friends
