Lucky Pineapple – The New Rainbow
Self-Released – lp01 – January 28th, 2006
By Jason Jordan
Louisville’s been doing reasonably well as far as local music goes. We’ve got
Stonecutters,
The Photographic,
Breather Resist, and several others on tap every fifth weekend or so. One mustn’t forget the overwhelming success of influential artists like
Slint and
My Own Victim, though both enjoyed only marginal success in the mainstream. Nevertheless, here come
Lucky Pineapple barreling down the streets of Louisville, touting an eclectic blend of genres, which is then further mutated by trumpet blasts, ever-changing keyboards, and a select amount of everyman vocals. While this won’t be a bestseller – its variance is sometimes off-putting –
The New Rainbow is a decent slab of quirkiness.
After “Tiny Bananas” concludes, “Roadside Sex Change” opens the floodgates in an approachable manner with a solid backdrop of drums and maracas. All the instruments assemble nicely, and the tempo hints at greater things to come as it accelerates into a lively, exhilarating force.
Lucky Pineapple are primarily an instrumental troupe, but “Yellow TV” deviates from the norm. I’ll hazard a guess and say that the vocalists weren’t formally trained, though their contributions are fitting. Interestingly enough, there’s a heavy surf vibe present on “Yellow TV,” further solidifying the observation that
The New Rainbow is unpredictable. “Buffalo Heartbeat” is the heftiest of the lot – hitting the five-minute mark easily – but is also the meanderer of the bunch. Unlike “Roadside Sex Change,” “Buffalo Heartbeat” seems less driven, focused, inviting. However, when “SOS” grabs the reins, all becomes well as the ‘70s nightclub vibrations are out in full strobe-lighted, bright-colored fashion. Crocker (trumpet, add. percussion) exercises her throat muscles for the first and last time in the aforementioned. She’s not an expert, but she still adds to the overall atmosphere. “Shy Pirate” is vaudevillian at times, and despite the occasional sparkle of brilliance, the tunes I didn’t mention above aren’t what I’d call memorable.
At any rate,
The New Rainbow, which boasts 30 minutes of affable oddness, is a good first step for this young band of musicians. The recordings sound polished too, though you’ll have to crank this bitch to get the much-needed oomph out of the bass and drums. With songs that recall the vibrant shimmering of tropical paradises – by way of the titles and music itself naturally – it’s difficult to resist lying back and feasting on the fruits of
Lucky Pineapple. Most unsigned bands desire a label, and the one that came to mind almost instantaneously was Crucial Blast Records – home of experimental artists such as
SOIHADTOSHOOTHIM,
The Mass,
Totimoshi, and
Genghis Tron. Either way, this is a promising effort, if not a tad scatterbrained with noticeable room for improvement.
7.5/10
Official Lucky Pineapple Website
Official Lucky Pineapple MySpace Website
