CD, self-released, 2008
www.myspace.com/electriccolony
Electric Colony is the genre defying creation of Toronto’s Kris Summers. Most of this debut album leans more towards alternative rock than electro/industrial. Persistent guitar chops cry out against relentless rhythms which always seem to change tempo and mode mere moments before getting stale. Vocal expressions are kept to a minimum and typically feature tribal chants and reverberating whispers.
My primary critique is that some of the tracks flirt with repetition and become overly long or oversimplified in the process. Additionally, the two rehabbed versions of songs that appear early in the album are really unnecessary. All that aside, Summers’ unique musical alchemy involves “repetitive extreme rhythm” as intentional technique. Somehow it all works together quite well. This will appeal to fans of dreamy shoegaze acts such as Lush, indie classics such as Ned’s Atomic Dustbin and Dinosaur Jr., and yes, even fans of the patron saints of post-punk, the Cure. Tracks such as “Descent” and “Nearly There” have a certain lilting organicism about them which is really quite agreeable.
This album is definitely worth a listen; something you can play at work without drawing the eyebrows or criticism of your co-workers in neighboring cubes, or when you’re in the mood for something mellow without compromising on depth.
[7/10]
— Shannon Malik