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RAINBOW DANGER CLUB

Crossover Prog • China


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Rainbow Danger Club picture
Rainbow Danger Club biography

Members: Zha Si (guitar/vox), Wu Mao (bass/vox), Lao Xing Gan (trumpet, live keys and percussion), Zang Ye Ye (drums)

RAINBOW DANGER CLUB is one of China's most sought-after live acts, and their self-produced EP, "The New Atlantis", and subsequent LP, "Where Maps End", have been recieving growing global attention including articles on CNNgo, MTVIggy, and The UK Guardian.

They fit nicely in crossover with a good blend of dreamy poppish dark melodies with vocals not dissimilar to fellow archive artist, Mercury Rev.

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RAINBOW DANGER CLUB discography


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RAINBOW DANGER CLUB top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.47 | 15 ratings
Where Maps End
2011
3.75 | 8 ratings
Souvenirs
2013
2.42 | 7 ratings
Treehouse Empire
2019

RAINBOW DANGER CLUB Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.50 | 2 ratings
Shanghai
2012

RAINBOW DANGER CLUB Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

RAINBOW DANGER CLUB Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

RAINBOW DANGER CLUB Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

4.00 | 4 ratings
The New Atlantis EP
2010
4.00 | 2 ratings
Into the Cellar
2012
4.00 | 3 ratings
Forced Perspectives
2021
4.00 | 2 ratings
The Actual F
2021
4.33 | 3 ratings
The Big Trapeze
2021
4.33 | 3 ratings
It Gets to Me
2021
4.00 | 2 ratings
The Expanse
2021

RAINBOW DANGER CLUB Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Treehouse Empire by RAINBOW DANGER CLUB album cover Studio Album, 2019
2.42 | 7 ratings

BUY
Treehouse Empire
Rainbow Danger Club Crossover Prog

Review by TCat
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin

2 stars "Rainbow Danger Club" is a Crossover Prog band originally formed in China, who released their first EP in 2010 and first album in 2011. Somewhere along the way to their next full album released, they moved to Austin, Texas and traded their Chinese names for English names. They currently have a line up that consists of Jesse Munson on vocals, guitar, piano, ukulele, synthesizer and saw; Dennis Ming Nichols on vocals, bass, trombone, synthesizers, piano and banjo; Mike Corayer on trumpet, organ, synthesizers and vocals; Mike Ford on drums and percussion; and Todd St. Armand on acoustic and electric cello. That's quite an array of instruments.

In January of 2019 they released their 3rd full length album called "Treehouse Empire" which consists of 11 tracks that are between 3 minutes and just over 5 minutes long, for a total run time of almost 47 minutes.

The music on this album is mostly sci-fi oriented, well-produced pop with very little progressive qualities. The music is pleasant enough and quite easy to listen to, but it is hard to find anything really challenging on this album. The lyrics are a bit cheesy at times and the vocals have a slightly peaceful and airy quality to them, and the music mostly supports the vocals with the occasional short interlude stuck between the verses and choruses in a typical pop structure, but with a bit of lushness provided by the many synthesizers that are used.

"The Art of Forgetting" has a nice 6 / 8 slow swing tempo to it with a violin setting it apart from the sound of the other tracks. It's nice and captivating, but simple and easy on the ears. "Friend or Foe" uses an almost mariachi sounding trumpet, showing that the band is trying to adopt some of the local Austin sound into their pop. The song tries to be on the dark side even adding eerie sounding background vocals, but it is too pop sounding to be convincing. "The Day the Earth Stood Still" tries to add more intensity in using heavier guitars and siren effects, but ends up failing in the overall delivery. "Enduring Love" has a rag-time style to it, trying to get the "Dr. Dog" sound, but again, sounding unconvincing even with the violin.

The overall sound is a bit corporate sounding. I'm not really sure what the band is trying to achieve, if they are really sold on perfect pop melodies or if they are using music for commercial purposes. The non-challenging songs do tend to wear out their welcome in my own tastes in music. The perfection in the production, vocals and instrumental backing tends to feel thin as far as authenticity in heart and soul are concerned, so it all comes off feeling a bit commercial and schmaltzy. If you like your music really poppy and simple, then by all means, try this out. But I will tell you there really isn't anything progressive about this and it gets more annoying as it goes, using pop formulas that have been used before and trying to incorporate other styles to try to sound relevant. Everything is just too perfect, but in it's perfection it loses any heart and soul.

 The New Atlantis EP by RAINBOW DANGER CLUB album cover Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, 2010
4.00 | 4 ratings

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The New Atlantis EP
Rainbow Danger Club Crossover Prog

Review by toroddfuglesteg

4 stars Progressive rock from China is not the normal fare. But in popularity, Rainbow Danger Club is in the top five of the most popular bands in our archives. If not the biggest band, that is. In China, this band is a huge band.

After repeated listenings to this EP, I can understand why. Their Chinese fans deserves credit for their excellent taste in music.

The music on this album is more or less described in the title itself. This is new, modern art rock with a lot of nods towards Radiohead and Marillion (post Fish). The sound is excellent. The music fleshy, dynamic and really melodic. A song like We Can Be Friends is a potential hit and should be on every proghead's playlist, sooner or later.

There is no real weak tracks on this album. It also functions well as one piece of music where the songs flows into each others. The musicians does an excellent job and so does the Matthew Bellamy sounding vocalist too. The music is performed with the normal setup and with a trumpet adding some xtra flavours too.

There is no doubts in my view that Rainbow Danger Club is a massive talented band who would be big in any territory they tried their luck in. They really deserve the success in China and I hope they will soon visit these shores too.

In the meantime; get this EP.

4.5 stars

Thanks to chris s for the artist addition. and to NotAProghead for the last updates

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