The Daily Spin, July 30
Babe Rainbow | Changing Colours
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here. Additionally, you can check out a list of my favorite song from each album right here.
Album: Changing Colours (2021)
Artist: Babe Rainbow
Link:
A strong start here is neutered by a back half that leaves a lot to be desired - and that’s a real shame, because there’s a ton to like about this on the surface. When Babe Rainbow open with ‘Zeitgeist’, I’m sat here thinking this is going to be somewhere between Still Woozy and Dayglow, surf rock at its best, downtempo sound reigning glorious throughout.
It’s the tracks starting with ‘Rainbow Rock’ that I begin to see the wheels coming off a bit, where the album pivots from those surf-rock standouts to more of a 60s-tinged feel. That’s music that absolutely works for some people, but it’s not much to my style generally - though they’re similar, there’s a slightly more acoustic feel to the back half of the album that just doesn’t click for me in the slightest.
Put together, it’s a 10/10 front and a 6/10 back, so I feel pretty comfortable slapping this down in the 8 range. I wish that the entire album held that opening salvo the whole way through, but we can’t all get what we want.
Rating: 8.1/10
Best Tracks: Zeitgeist; Rainbow Rock
Worst Tracks: New Zealand Spinach