What do you do when you are a shoegaze band who have been dreaming and scheming in your native Austin since 2007, only for a new wave of acts with dodgy bowl cuts and a My Bloody Valentine best-of to start a so-called revival? Shoegaze seems to be what every indie band strives towards these days, but the Ringos have their take nailed on their fifth album, Pure Mood. It’s luxuriously heavy, sweetly ghostly and more thoughtful than others who switch on the reverb pedal and hope for the best.
They don’t wallow beneath their walls of sound: the exciting songs, such as Heavy Metal Suicide and Frisbee and Guilt, contrast their feathery whimsy with gunmetal guitars and blastbeat drums. Elsewhere, the slacker-popish Never and Big Bopper are pleasingly wry and sultry, and Acid Tongue goes for a bombastic rock instrumental, though none are particularly memorable. Then again, that’s the thing about shoegaze: it’s more about creating a pure mood than an instant connection, and Ringo Deathstarr’s mood is more playful than most.
