This band’s name has always sounded like it should be the title of an album by Japanese noise-rock gods The Boredoms. BMSR do have weird names themselves (Tobacco, Seven Fields of Aphelion), but they are not Japanese, however. In fact, they hail from the wooded acres of Western Pennsylvania, and they play a decidedly more restrained brand of experimental-psych-rock than what one might expect at first blush, but having the word ‘rainbow’ in their name is rather appropriate.
This is a re-issue of their much-ballyhooed “breakthrough” album, complete with fourteen bonus tracks (31 total). There’s a quirky old skool, wheezing keyboard sound running throughout, and, for better or worse, it frames the entire album. The abstract song titles speak to the music contained in them (“Spinning Cotton Candy In A Shack Made Of Shingles”, “Jump Into My Mouth And Breathe The Stardust”), and some of this ends up sounding more like psychedelic snatches of songs than actual songs.
When they get it rolling, however, it rolls, like on “Forever Heavy,” which is super cool and has a wicked flange effect (or whatever the heck it is). There are odd fruit-colored sounds and mutated vocals and generally trippy textures all over this thing, but nothing really mind-blowing; actually it’s more controlled and, perhaps, mind-bending. When they increase the energy level and they find some volume they get pretty darn groovy. It takes some patience to get through, but it’s an entertaining ride.
