Boris – Pink (CD)

The noise that Boris brings to his “Pink” is something that swaddles the music that is contained within. In a sense, the singing that begins the album in “Farewell” is fairly sedate, even though the music that surrounds it is raunchy as all get out. Tracks can be seven or eight minutes and it does not matter; Boris creates a soundscape with each of the tracks on this disc that tell a story more successfully than do veteran novelists. At some point, there is little beyond the instruments, Boris, and the noise; the guitar opening to the title track will go back to the days of acts like Motorhead. The tempo present during the track will remind listeners to the first time that they listened to punk.

The vocals present on “Pink” may not be easily decipherable (or decipherable at all, they are not clear enough to tell), but they move beyond just trying to convey a story and really go into the realm of creating music. Boris can come forth and create vocals that will link the band to The Doors; in this, they sound as if they are playing tens of instruments instead of the few that are actually being played. The much more approachable “Woman on the Screen” is a track in the vein of the retro-rock revival and ties together elements of acts as diverse as Fu Manchu, Kyuss, and “Deliverance”-era Corrosion of Conformity.

Anything that is cohesive and coherent goes out the window by the time that Boris starts off their “Nothing Special”. “Nothing Special” has the vaguest hint of structure, all while allowing chaos to wash over the band as if that was completely normal. Where there is a tremendous amount of noise during this track, individuals can dig Boris as if they were as clear as the Foo Fighters or The Ramones. This is due to the fact that Boris is able to subjugate their tracks in a way that allow the band to do what they want to do every second of every track on this disc. The disc is full of muic, and it is a dense listen. Listeners should probably expect that the listening will be slow going, as individuals will have to mull over each composition. This is not an album to turn on and clean the house to, but requires a serious commitment from its listeners. Pick it up.

Top Tracks: Nothing Special, Blackout

Rating: 7.5/10

Boris – Pink / 2006 Southern Lord / 11 Tracks / http://www.southern.com/southern/band/BORIS/SNN55.php / http://www.southern.com / Reviewed 11 May 2006

[JMcQ]