Bosnian Rainbows: Album Release Tour

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez strikes again.  After hearing the respectfully raucous At The Drive-In and the soaring samples of The Mars Volta, I honestly didn’t know what to expect next.  I knew it would be good, but with such a colorful history I had no idea in which musical direction it would go.  The innovator continues to break boundaries and meld genres playing guitar in his most recent project Bosnian Rainbows.  Their self-titled album was released in late June during their West Coast tour and it has been melting minds ever since.

There is a new, matured sound with Rodriguez-Lopez’s new group.  It still has that gritty edge to it, but now grooves hard with captivating melodies, driving bass and intricate guitar-work.  It starts out with a bang; the phat drum beat in the first track Eli makes sure you’re awake and ready to digest what’s in store.  After that the next song, Worthless, is anything but, although Teri Gender Bender of Le Butcherettes might lead you to believe so with her hauntingly smooth vocals.   Her vocals continue to dig as the album moves on to Dig Right In Me, a song with a driving synth-like bass backing the rest of the band.  The guitar work by the previous Mars Volta member is not to be forgotten, shredding and tearing lyrically in between vocal phrases and leading the band with colorful chordal harmony.  A pleasantly spooky atmosphere is decorated throughout the album with overlying keyboard and synth leads, especially in I Cry For You.  In this song the bass drum and bassist lock in together, laying down an extremely syncopated in-your-face beat.  The guitar solos seem to cry tears of familiar dissonance as Rodriguez-Lopez’s unique playing style shows its colors.

Bosnian Rainbows then show their hand at a “post-pop” feel with the tune Morning Sickness.  Imagine a groovy beat with the distinct touch of the likes of Sargent House bands.  Hard to describe, but both Morning Sickness and Torn Maps have this better-than-pop groove. The downtempo Turtle Neck calms the feel of the album with a Grizzly Bear like guitar and drum interlocking.  It picks up the energy again with synchronized bass and drum hits, and drives the point home with an eclectic guitar solo.  Always On The Run and Red pick up where the last song left off, full of head-nodding energy and head-shaking beats.  Mother, Father, Set Us Free closes the album as a memorable anthem with that eerily groovy sound that seems to be the signature Bosnian Rainbows sound.

Bosnian Rainbows is an extremely unique and irreplaceable group.  They successfully combine groovy, foot-tapping music with the indisputable sound some musicians might describe as just “out”.  They are a group that cannot be duplicated or even fully described with words.  The best way to find out for yourself is to see them June 24^th, 25^th, 26^th, and 27^th in San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Ana, and San Francisco respectively.  This newest, self-titled album is now for sale, and I can guarantee it is not like any album you have heard before.

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