Colors and Patterns – “Colors and Patterns” [EP] [Album Review]

Taking the time to sit down with this four-song EP, I was impressed by the breadth of area that the New Hampshire duo were able to cover in just over 16 minutes of run time. Whether it’s spaced-out rock, vocoder sampling, crushing doom, noodling emo, lightning fast grind, or vocals that summon up impressions of acts that range from Audioslave to Cave In to Default to Robinson (yes I just wrote that), this is a contemporary offering that manages to wander across influences and skate across expectations. It’s pretty amazing to hear such a broad number of genres being tapped, creating some sort of lean machination of auditory progressions through types and sonic places.

The result is fairly exhilarating, though the whole offering tends to lose steam part way through “Wondering”, the third track on the album. It feels like a track that would feel more at home wedged in between more heavy material that manages to blow the listener away. Luckily, it does manage to pick itself up halfway through, and get to the ‘good stuff’, which is Chris Robinson’s ability to hammer out riffs that pull the listener in and rock loudly and atmospherically. Otherwise though, the journey promised by the opening track “Wake” doesn’t so much fade out by the final track as it just sort of ends. Clearly this is a band that will need a full-length to get across what they’re attempting to do.

While this is not a perfect EP by any means, it’s certainly intriguing, and hearing the musical ability on display is almost as breathtaking as the number of influences on display. I’m very excited to hear future material from this duo. In the meantime, I’ll try and make sense of their EP.

Colors and Patterns Track Listing:

01. Wake
02. Vultures
03. Wondering
04. Words

Run Time: 16:23
Release Date: August 29, 2016

Check out the EP Colors and Patterns