Rainbow Maniac (general review)

Rainbow Maniac is a four-piece indie band that scatter from locations around the Rhondda Valleys. Their name derives from time spent nitpicking through Wikipedia in search of a renowned serial killer that could best give title to themselves. A grand find, I may add.

They have just a few releases under their sleeve(s), but the credibility this band has, and have created for themselves, is phenomenal. A few shy of everyone I know that has seen or heard them just a singular amount of times, has fallen near enough in love with the music these four have created over the few short years of their existence, and are equally enamoured by their live performance. They’re the kind of band that make me want to shake loose all indications of education that are currently in process, and become the sleaziest, but most highly appealed, go-go dancer in a Quentin Tarantino Movie. And I mean it in the best of ways.

It’s easy to locate some influences: There’s definitely a history of blues, of Britpop, of true rock’n’roll to relate to, and without question you can hear the puppet strings that Arctic Monkeys manoeuvre above their heads. But they aren’t copycats. They won’t be in future times a band you listen to and hear the faint echoes of genericism, or the subliminal messages pushed forward by a “knows-(f**k)-all-producer”. 

The main songwriter, Conor Latcham, writes reality. He has a brute honesty that’s conveyed in a sarcastic, yet extremely relatable poetry. To watch him on stage is to see the variety, and shy cockiness, of British frontmen at work. You’ll see Jagger, Turner, the Gallaghers, Doherty. The lot. But you’ll also see him. Previous jests to test his temperament have seen me tease him with the title of each and every one of these, and more. Given the chance to see them for yourself, mind, and you’ll understand the humour. In years to come I’d like to think I’ll be teasing some other poor up-and-comer with the jest of his name in replacement of the aforementioned.

Though, he is not the only talent in the band by far. Laura Brown, the giver of bass and backing vocals, definitely adds to the charisma that Latcham has already presented us with, but in the contradictory sweetness of a riot grrrl manner. Louis Jugessur, guitar, is the quiet one. On stage at least. But as the saying goes, it’s the quiet ones you watch out for, and the shy talent this young lad wrangles into a six string will prove this theory to be fact. Gavin Jenkins, last, but in an utmost cliche manner, not least: Drums, and occasional vocalist also. Again the presence of old rock’n’roll is clear and vivid in the lad’s musicianship, as well as his style. The mods (not rockers) haircut should not deter you from the Animalistic (of course a Muppets reference) tendencies that lay beneath the smoothness of that adorn leather jacket. The kid’s a beast behind the kit, you’ll see for yourself. His talent comes from passion, and the passion is beyond genuine. But then, that’s a certainty for every member of this quartet.

That’s one of my favourite things about watching this band live. The passion. The honesty. That’s what should be loved about a band. And they fulfill this creedo to a tee, not for the audience, but for themselves. There’s a faint pompousness that shows they’re hoping you’re enjoying yourself, but f**k you if you’re not, because they damn well are, and that’s what matters. Call me romantic, but when I see a band love what they’re doing, it escalates the entire experience.

For the ideal taster, my recommendations lie in these tracks, your Rob Gordon-esque top three (we’re not quite at High Fidelity stats for the big ‘five’ yet)…

• Kestrel Super
• Sally-Ann Is Dirty
• You Had Me At Goodbye

http://www.rainbowmaniac.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rainbow-Maniac/124168184379353

https://soundcloud.com/rainbow-maniac