Review: Pinkshinyultrablast at Night & Day Manchester

Photo credit: Paul Hudson

Nancy Barnes and Matilda Roberts 

Pinkshinyultrablast are a five piece band from Saint-Petersburg Russia who are currently benefitting from a revival of interest in the shoegaze sound. We saw them play at Night and Day in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, a popular bar and venue that plays host to a variety of bands from the well established to the less so.

Lead singer, Lyubov’s vocals washed over the crowded room and rose above the dense layers of feedback and distortion generated by the rest of the band. It has been impossible for the band to avoid comparisons with the bands principally associated with the shoegaze genre.  The ethereal vocals and often indecipherable lyrics draw similarities with the Cocteau Twins, the driving thickly layered guitar with Slowdive. However, Pinkshinyultrablast can only suffer from these comparisons.

While I initially enjoyed their playing and appreciated their sound, by the time they were finishing their third song I was beginning to feel that there was not much going on beneath the layers of noise. They lacked the interesting melodies and the variety of pace and mood that is often present in the songs of the bands they emulate. Pinkshinyultrablast are a band worth seeing for their appealing sound and attractive vocals and melodies, but unfortunately for them the hype that is created around them, spurred on by claims that they are ‘the most interesting shoegaze band in the world right now!’ is only going to lead to individuals attending their gigs expecting to see something akin to Jesus and Mary Chain or Ride and leaving disappointed.

Go see them without inflated expectations and you may delight in the bands performance and appreciate their sound – you will get more out of the band this way than by seeking semblances of and similarities with shoegaze legends.