Much like the lengthy production process of debut album Purple Strikes, Toxic River, Canberra’s TV Colours is a product charged equally with promise and frustration.
The brainchild of Robin ‘Bobby Kill’ Mukurjee from Assassins 88, TV Colours abandoned two highly anticipated album pre-releases over six years, exasperating expectant fans and low-fi enthusiasts in the process.
Purple Strikes, Toxic River is the ultimate culmination of this frustration, with Kill’s liberating vocals and Motorhead-like intensity giving the album a solid grounding for inaugural success.
Opening with enthusiastic pop-rock track, “The Neighbourhood”, the album explores the contrast of adolescence, and the teenage angst related to feelings of both identity and isolation.
Riff heavy by nature, “I Soon Found Out That My Lonely Life Wasn’t So Pretty” and the cleverly designed “Dark Days Against The Fade” are two of the numerous highlights, whilst opening single “Beverly” lends heavily from The Replacements with its dense layers of guitar and persistent drum machines.
Despite these highlights, limited production polish regrettably damages the end product. While the cassette-style punk rock sound is undeniably intentional, one can’t help but think improved sound quality and enhanced overall mixing would dramatically improve the overall listening experience.
The excessive use of distortion and punishing reverb does nothing to dismiss this frustrated view, drowning out vocal cohesion in several tracks including the otherwise impressive “Lost Highway”.
Despite these faults however, Purple Strikes, Toxic River remains a lively release assured to entertain, and one that highlights the ongoing potential of TV Colours.
