2 of 2 thought this review was well writtenThe Red Paintings are a five piece, Australian arthouse Rock group. They are building quite a stong reputation with their EP's, and incredibly theatrical live shows. I've never seen, or heard, of anything like them on stage before. Walls is their 6th release, and is what I believe to be their best.
The Band on this album is:
Trash McSweeny - Guitar, Vocals
Ellen Stancombe - Violing, Backing Vocals
Wayne Jennings - Chello, Backing Vocals
Josh Engelking - Drums, Percussions
Bo Witton - Bass
Walls opens the EP wonderfully. The intro is sad, and helps to set the mood of the EP. The song is probably the most upbeat on the EP, thanks to the verse/chorus, but it also has a great little bridge. I love the violin throughout it.
The Streets Fell Into My Window is a pretty crazy song. It opens with a narrated reading from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Before long, a tribal sounding drum beat kicks in, along with swirling background and the reading becomes similiar to that of a madman. The song flows steadily, keeping the a drum & bass rythm throughout the verses, and a Red Paintings style distorted chorus. The end of the song is cool, with Trash pulling off some cool effects on the guitar, and "the strings go nuts".
Dead Adults is the successor to Dead Children. It's a slow building song, with some cool delay effects throughout the first half of the song. The violin is fingerpicked throughout that time. After two and a half minutes the song becomes a little more exciting. What feels like a long procession of palm muted power chords rises to the songs climax, before eventually calming to a long outro.
Mad World, originally written by Tears For Fears, and later covered by Gary Jules, now undergoes more changes. I honestly believe this is the best version of the song I've heard. Tears For Fears wrote it like an 80's pop song, Gary Jules brought out some of the sadness about it, but The Red Paintings have outshined him here. The acoustic chords blend perfectly with the chello and violin, and Trash's vocals are brilliant. The song just seems to have a lot more feeling than any of the prior versions.
Portrait Of A Dead Soul sounds pretty cool. The song structure changes every minute or so, so it doesn't get tiresome. The vocals, strings and guitar dominate this track, with a distinct lack of Drums and Bass, something the band seems to do often. Nice easy listen really.
Walls (Alternative Ending) is pretty much what the title says. It's Walls, but the ending is extended with a continuation the last a minute or so longer than the first version.
Signals From The Frontier is a rather alien sounding track. It reminds of Radioheads No Suprises a little. It begins with plenty of spacey effects and a radio transmission describing the solar system. It continues as so, but just gets a little weirder as it procedes. It also has an annoying buzzing sound throughout the track.
Overall - The EP is pretty darn good. If your looking for something thats going to impress you with technical ability, don't bother. However, if your looking for an excellent easy listen, and are a sucker for the Violin, pick it up. Every song is very listenable, with the first 5 tracks being outstanding. Four stars.
