LA noisefuckers Health’s sophomore release mirrors The Horrors’ recent collection, Primary Colours, in more than name. As with those Shoreditch gothabees, Health’s debut underwhelmed as a regurgitation of influences (Liars, Liars, Liars) trashed out with blind exuberance, and they became a band better known for their live renderings of their half-finished pencil sketches (and their omniscient fashion-friendly merchandise).
Get Colour, as the title suggests, tie-dies this once plain white tee into a polychromatic attack on the synapses. High-range sonics and the drumming work of a tweaked-out orangutan clash over a battleground of simple vocal melodies and textures to create a work of violent glory. The experiential highs of the decimated Death+ and opener In Heat typify the band’s recording studio progress, while Die Slow represents the quartet’s first successful stab at the art of the single. Despite moving towards conventional song structure the band have retained their noise credentials, pushing the limits of wiry, Wire-y post-punk out far enough to encompass the ear-splitting electronics of Wolf Eyes and death thrashes of Lightning Bolt.
Health’s feat is more impressive than Faris Rotter and his band of coffinhouse hipgoths in that their self-improvement comes not with an entire identity overhaul, but the retention of their original tics. Get Colour might well be the most blinding rainbow you stare into all year.
