Like pirate metal or Mongolian throat-rap, Russian shoegaze sounds more like a hypothetical genre than a bona fide one, something that might have been invented by a music journalist picking words out of a hat to describe the new Radiohead album. St Petersburg’s Pinkshinyultrablast, however, are very real indeed, although their passports might be the most Russian thing about them, given that they’re named after an LP by obscure US noise-poppers Astrobrite, sound like Lush being fronted by Liz Fraser and sing all of their lyrics (though it’s pretty much impossible to tell) in English.
Out of that agglomeration of influences comes something not quite new, yet not overly familiar. “Shoegazing” seems a painfully reductive description for what Pinkshinyultrablast do: there are fiddly math-rock rhythms (Umi), wistful electronica (Holy Forest) and a thunderous, frenetic dynamism to their live performance that’s more akin to punk than ponderous effects-pedal worship. In Lyubov Soloveva, meanwhile, they have a frontwoman whose chiffony, choirgirl voice has a wonderfully transportive quality that whisks you out of your surroundings – in this case, a crowded Glaswegian basement bar – and plonks you down on a passing nebula.
Their set is a too-brief delight, but the current logjam of reunited shoegaze acts will likely prove a double-edged sword for Pinkshinyultrablast. They can only benefit from renewed interest in the music itself, but they’ll inevitably suffer from comparisons. Most genre revivalists have the good fortune not to have to worry about competing with their progenitors. Then again, most genre revivalists aren’t half as good – or half as inventive – as this.
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Night & Day Cafe, Manchester, on 29 September. Box office: 0161-236 1822. At the Temple at the Institute, Birmingham, on 30 September. Box office: 0844-844 0444. Then touring.
