Of the Blue Colour of the Sky

It’s almost too easy to overlook the great music this L.A.-based quartet makes in favor of praising the videos, but Of the Blue Colour of the Sky is an underrated mini-masterpiece, with the guitar-rock outfit morphing on a handful of songs into a Prince-inspired, pop-funk generator. The tunes have teeth, as opener “WTF” well shows, with its hissing keyboard, clanging guitar funk and Damian Kulash’s twitchy, wild-hare falsetto. Is this faux funk, or the real thing? The question becomes moot when the kaleidoscopic pop of “This Too Shall Pass” takes over, and when the joyous, hope-filled “All Is Not Lost” soars with glittery keys and fluttering guitars. The band returns to a silky, funk groove on “Skyscrapers,” and lights a fire with booty-shaking Prince-isms on “White Knuckles.” Blue Colour is one big neon party, and all the band’s amazing videos and wacky concepts (the obscure book that inspired the title, the methodology in creating the artwork) don’t count for much more than icing and confetti. The real star is the music. The “Extra Nice” version contains a whopping amount of bonus material like demos, remixes and an interview with NPR’s Ira Glass.