[new sampshire] Listen: Full Color, "Stressed"

A while ago, I wrote a review of ICE'S first 7-inch for New Sampshire. Apparently, Ice is dead (and so is their other band Culture Void), but out of the ashes has risen FULL COLOR, New Hampshire’s newest goth-tronic band. Two weeks ago, the band released Stressed on Soundcloud and played a CD release party at Spun, Dover’s coolest record store. And when I say coolest, I mean the only one. Stressed is beyond bizarre; it’s a somewhat terrifying journey into the eyes and ears of a manic disco nightmare.

The two Newmarket residents, who go by nicknames Casio Crone and Vince Chic, bang on analog keyboards and vintage beat machines, but create something a little more interesting than your typical disposable synth-pop. The duo’s Soundcloud description reads: “We are two mercurial technicians creating retro-futurist dance music with lyrical fixations on science fiction, post-structualist theory, human culture, and this modern world.” Sounds about right.

“Presience” kicks off the album with a startling jolt, and if you don’t have a headache by the end of it, you’re probably going to love the rest of the record. One unique thing about Full Color is their semblance among the panic of it all. The beats are sloppy and not on time, and the distorted synth overpowers the drums and vocals, clipping and shifting throughout. But as a whole, the chaos comes together into the soundtrack to your happiest anxiety attack. The songs “Detroit, Detroit, Detroit” and “Full Color” are probably the most straightforward and danceable (a side note – this might be the first New Hampshire band to ever use a vocoder), and both tracks are begging for a sweet electro remix. This is an invitation and a request to all Boston DJs: make me proud.

If you like Stressed, check out the hour-long live set Low Light, released a few months ago on their Soundcloud, and stay updated for show announcements!