Ringo Deathstarr at the Raccoon Motel -- April 30.
Thursday, April 30, 6 p.m.
Raccoon Motel, 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA
Hailed by AllMusic as "shoegaze revivalists from Texas who play it pretty straight, but aren't afraid to add extra noise to the mix," the Texas-based noise-pop and alternative-rock artists of Ringo Deathstarr bring their current tour to Davenport's Raccoon Motel on April 30, their most recent, self-titled album lauded by Post-Trash as a work that "condenses everything special about the shoegaze purveyors into one complete package."
Based in Austin, Texas, and formed by Beaumont's singer/songwriter Elliott Frazier in 2005, Ringo Deathstarr's original lineup was composed of Frazier, bassist Alex Gehring, guitarist Renan McFarland, and drummer Dustin Gaudet. The band's self-titled, five-song EP debut was initially released by SVC Records in the United Kingdom in early 2007, and then self-released later the same year in the U.S., later reissued in 2009 by Fan Death Records. The recording was followed by a string of seven-inch singles, including "You Don't Listen" (released in September of 2009 on Custom Made Music), "In Love" (released on September 14, 2009 on SVC Records), "Tambourine Girl" (the B-side to a split single with the Depreciation Guild, released in 2009 by U.K. label Club AC30) and "So High" (released on January 31, 2011 by Club AC30).
Described by DIY Magazine as "most blissfully addictive," Ringo Deathstarr's debut full-length album Colour Trip was first released in the U.K. by Club AC30 on Valentine's Day of 2011, then licensed to Sonic Unyon for release in North America. By this time, McFarland and Gaudet had departed, and Daniel Coborn had joined on drums. Another EP, Shadow, followed on November 2, and Ringo Deathstarr went on to tour with the Smashing Pumpkins in the winter of 2011-12. The group's second studio album, Mauve, was released on September 1 of 2012, while the mini-album God's Dream was issued in December of the following year.
Ringo Deathstarr's next album, Pure Mood, was released in November of 2015, leading The Guardian to call the recording "luxuriously heavy, sweetly ghostly, and more thoughtful than others who switch on the reverb pedal and hope for the best." SputnikMusic added that with Pure Mood, Ringo Deathstarr "get damn near everything right." On March 27, 2020, Ringo Deathstarr was released as a self titled album on Club AC30, with the single "God Help the Ones You Love" released earlier that year to promote the album. As AllMusic stated, the band is "one of the finest exemplars of blown-out shoegaze and amped-up dream pop."
Ringo Deathstarr headlines their Davenport engagement on April 30 with additional sets by Shadingthesun and Blist Her, doors for the Thursday-evening concert open at 6 p.m., and admission is $26.45. For more information and tickets, visit TheRaccoonMotel.com.
