Live Review: Pinkshinyultrablast. Brudenell Social Club, Leeds 01.10.2015

Pinkshinyultrablast take the stage in a rather subtle, polite manner, take up their positions, twiddle a few knobs, tweak a few dials and ever so gently begin their set. Lyobuv’s ethereal vocals are instantly captivating as they float through the air. As we progress the intensity builds and within minutes you are acutely aware of why this band are attracting so much attention. They have that.., erm.., thing that some bands have. That thing where they do everything and nothing, all at the same time and it just… Well, it just is!

It’s easy to see how the shoegaze label is so easily, if a little bit lazily, applied to this band. All the hallmarks are there – bit of distortion, beautiful, yet, barely decipherable lyrics and plenty of, well, gazing shoeward. But to label them too rigidly could maybe distract from their wider appeal. There’s a definite krautrock feel to proceedings and a fleeting glimpses of wider influences than the bands so many are keen to name drop when talking about Pinkshinyultrablast. At times, especially during the transitional sections between songs, there’s an almost neo-classical minimilistic feel about them. Mix that with some rather tumultuous thrashing guitar, and you have a band that, live at least, takes notice, but is quite willing and able to step beyond the constraints of their given genre.

Pinkshinyultrablast come across as a cohesive, if somewhat introverted, band. There’s been little to no interaction between the stage and crowd (other than an apology for another broken guitar string), but it’s far from indulgent, and you do come away feeling you very much a part of it, in an absorbed kind of way.