Ringo Deathstarr - Sparkler

Hindsight is a mercurial beast. Looking back on what’s come before could be seen as an objective activity, an opportunity to separate yourself from the fuzzy veil of first-hand experience. Mostly though, that’s not the case. Looking back always involves a knowledge what’s come afterward, and that’s an even murkier way to look at something - which is what makes ‘Sparkler’ seem like an odd release for Ringo Deathstarr.

Originally released in 2009 as a chimeric compilation of early releases and a couple of new tracks, ‘Sparkler’ now arrives after a first full album, ‘Colour Trip’ has been released - this is now a retrospective, rather than a handy way to showcase the young band’s full scope. The problem here is that that chronological difference now colours the compilation in a completely different light. Where, in the past, this could have been seen as the sound of an unpolished young band, excitable and eager to show off their undoubted shoegazey talents, it now sounds stilted next to the superior work that followed it.

That’s not to say that the evolution of a band can’t be interesting, but in this case it’s the sheer difference in quality that marks that evolution. The band’s approach to songwriting at this point seemed to be to take one of two tempo styles – slow and pounding or fast and breathless – and then to adorn it with interchangeable melodies. It’s a formula that allows them to imitate the masters of their particular art – Loveless and Psychocandy are being being sincerely flattered throughout – but never emerges from that feeling of imitation. The one moment of self-inspiration lies on final track ‘Your Town’, an almost ambient lullaby that doesn’t sound like being blocked by the wall of sound so much as passing through it.

First and last impressions are important, and where ‘Sparkler’ starts by making itself seem almost unnecessary, it ends by letting us know what Ringo Deathstarr are capable of, and what they have achieved subsequently. What we’re left with then is the conundrum as to why this was released now. With a new album forthcoming, surely it would have been wiser to re-release this when we had a through line of development as opposed to simply an unfair comparison? Perhaps the best lesson ‘Sparkler’ can teach us is that whilst viewing with hindsight can let us understand what came before, sometimes it might not actually help to do so.