Red Five

Flash (Interscope)
by Sheril Stanford

You know their song “Space,” a tune which is completely inescapable unless you live under a rock and/or don’t own a radio. They’re Red Five, and some would say that the foursome is just another Elastica/Veruca Salt wanna-be, and there’s definitely some of that going on. But Red Five’s disc Flash also has the Breeders and the Pixies written all over it. Prominent, high impact, fat n’ fuzzy, rolling bass lines. Kim Deal-esque vocals (but not always; there’s two, count ‘em, two female vocalists). Raw guitar fury. They’re not drawn to the ugly and unbalanced quite so much as the Breeders. Not so alienated and solipsistic as the Pixies. That’s where the Veruca Salt/Elastica connection comes in; Red Five has an edge but it’s not painfully sharp.

“Space” is the disc’s first single and the first track. It starts with a bass riff that will instantly bring to mind the Pixies. And the tunes keep getting better as you dig deeper into the disc. “Gasoline” features surprise harmonies, unpredictable melodies and random riffs, all the while remaining perfectly hummable. Another nugget is “Hold Me Down,” with blasts of off-key, scuzzy guitar and time changes moving lickety split from lazy to whirlwind. Potent, prominent bass dominates on the sassy and swinging “Shuffle” and “Lenses” is sexy and taunting, even while both songs seem to be addressing the subject of suicide (“a shotgun makes a mighty fine gift to cure a headache”). “Take It All in Moderation” does anything but. It’s packed with ferocious feedback and roars along at breakneck speed. It’s no wonder the kids love this stuff.