
Average Metacritic score is 79 (17 reviews):
by HEALTH
Get Color (Lovepump United)
Release Date: September 8
Metacritic Ranking: 80 (8 review)
Pitchfork: 7.4
http://www.noripcord.com/reviews/music/health/get-colorThe band owes most of that cohesiveness to the drummer, whose completely ridiculous beats are, along with the blasts of distortion that punctuate nearly every song, the undeniable soul of the band. Vocals have a newfound prominence, helping to hold the sound together even more and giving the album a darker tone. The guitars are textured, layered, noisy and chaotic, and it’s clear that they are painstakingly made to sound as such. It’s noisy but doesn’t come off as improvised; every crushing note sounds planned out.
They are still drawing from a multitude of influences but are now better at picking and choosing which parts to keep. Not only are they pulling from Sonic Youth, latter day Liars and other noise bands, but also from dance rock, trance and electronic. Highlights like Severin and Die Slow throw all of the above into the same song. Moments on the trance-y In Violet or We Are Water (the end of which is particularly fantastic) even start to sound like post-rock.
Health is yet another excellent band spawned out of LA hotspot The Smell and yet another entry into the ongoing war for the full love and attention of the indie community against Brooklyn. It’s like the old east vs. west coast rap feuds of the ‘90’s, only without the drive by shootings or any actual conflict. (My guess is the majority of these people are pacifists, though I would love to see Ed Droste fight Dean Spunt. An east against west indie brawl would undeniably be hilariously awesome. ) Brooklyn’s had some great offerings from Grizzly Bear, The Antlers and Animal Collective this year. The Smell has had little to show in 2009 until now, and Get Color can sit comfortably beside No Age’s Nouns in The Smell's continually growing canon of impressive records.
1 September, 2009 - 18:33 — Andrew Baer
8 out of 10