Red Output remembers something that most of rock and roll, pop, indie, and all of those extra made-up modern genres that they have nowadays, seem to have forgotten. Well, a few things, actually.
- Less is more
- A killer riff is a simple riff
- People like music that they can dance to
- Pop doesn’t have to be lowest common denominator music
Let me explain. Firstly, they don’t feel the need to drape their latest single, Rafters, in unnecessary sonics, showboating solos, and musical additions that will only blur the sharp lines they have fashioned, lessening the impact. Secondly, that guitar riff isn’t doing much a lot of the time, and that is its beauty; that is what makes it so effective; it punches and propels, grooves, and grinds, well, at least it does until the squalling middle section seems to reinvent the song on the hop. But by then, it has hooked you in, and the job is done.
Thirdly, even when the song hits its more intense second act, you can still cut a rug, flip your wig, throw some shapes, or whatever the cool kids are calling it today. Move, boogie… you know…dance. Finally, although the song moves on from its poppier opening gambit, throughout, it is intelligently put together, progressive in its attitudes, and deftly wrought.
It’s a clever song, one that moves from pop, or at least indie-pop, through alt-pop subversiveness and alt-rock intensity to finally arrive at a sort of indie-soul sonic twilight. That’s a lot to cover in one song, but imagine what they could do with a whole album’s space available to them. Actually, you don’t have to. Just give their EP Projections Through Rose Coloured Glass a spin. Do it. And do it now.
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