Cold Court’s debut EP is an infectious, glitchy genre mashup

Cold Court 的首张 EP：一场充满感染力的故障风流派大乱炖

Cold Court is a brother-sister duo from Philly that seems to love nothing more than shoving all of their influences together in a messy soup that at least superficially resembles the hyperpop you’ve come to expect from acts like 100 Gecs. But, where songs like “Dumbest Girl Alive” goofily wink at pop punk and emo, Cold Court are a bit more self-serious, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Cold Court 是一支来自费城的兄妹组合，他们似乎最喜欢做的事，就是把自己所有的音乐灵感一股脑儿地塞进一锅“乱炖”里。从表面上看，这与你从 100 Gecs 等艺人身上所期待的“超流行”（hyperpop）风格如出一辙。不过，当像《Dumbest Girl Alive》这类歌曲以戏谑的方式向流行朋克和情绪摇滚（emo）致意时，Cold Court 则显得稍微严肃了一些，但这未必是一件坏事。

The opening track on the band’s debut EP \ (^_^) / (aka Hands Up), “Nina”, starts off sounding not unlike the dance punk bands that stormed the scene in the mid aughts like Franz Ferdinand or Test Icicles. But that all starts to change about a minute in, when the skuzzy riff gets chopped up and fed through a beat repeater. Another minute later, there’s a mellow proggy bridge that calls to mind Mars Volta. Then the whole thing ends on a barrage of glitches and digital chaos.

该乐队首张 EP《\ (^_^) /》（又名《Hands Up》）的开场曲《Nina》，听起来与 2000 年代中期风靡一时的舞曲朋克乐队（如 Franz Ferdinand 或 Test Icicles）并无二致。但大约一分钟后，一切开始发生变化：粗粝的吉他 Riff 被切碎，并经过了节拍重复器（beat repeater）的处理。又过了一分钟，一段柔和的前卫摇滚风格过渡段让人联想到了 Mars Volta。随后，整首歌在密集的故障音效和数字混乱中落下帷幕。

The record largely continues in this fashion. The songs on Hands Up clearly started life on drums and guitar. But then Mini and Jojo fed their creations to a computer, added layers, rearranged the pieces, and piled on the effects. Single “Burn” is perhaps the best example of all the parts coming together. It features big rock riffs, Daft Punk-esque synths, dubstep chops, autotuned vocals, and even a rapped bridge. Yet the whole thing feels like a cohesive, seething whole as they shout, “I just want to see it burn, give a fuck about your word.” They’re not the deepest lyrics, but it works.

整张唱片基本延续了这种风格。《Hands Up》中的歌曲显然最初是以鼓和吉他为基础创作的。但随后，Mini 和 Jojo 将他们的作品输入电脑，添加音轨层，重新编排片段，并堆叠了各种音效。单曲《Burn》或许是这些元素融合的最佳范例。它包含了宏大的摇滚 Riff、Daft Punk 式的合成器音色、回响贝斯（dubstep）的切片、自动调音（autotune）的人声，甚至还有一段说唱过渡。然而，当他们高喊着“我只想看着它燃烧，才不在乎你的话”时，整首歌听起来却是一个连贯且充满张力的整体。歌词或许算不上深刻，但这种表达方式确实奏效。

While Cold Court is clearly an exercise in maximalism, not every song goes quite as big as “Burn.” “Cola” moves more slowly, strips back some of the layers, but doesn’t turn the volume down. “Glass” almost becomes math rock as its guitars get chopped up and spit back out, and the EP’s closer “Light” is blown-out, sparkly prog.

虽然 Cold Court 的音乐显然是一种极繁主义的实践，但并非每首歌都像《Burn》那样宏大。《Cola》节奏更慢，剥离了一些音轨层，但音量并未减弱。《Glass》在吉他被切碎并重组的过程中，几乎演变成了数学摇滚（math rock），而 EP 的收尾曲《Light》则是一首充满爆发力且闪烁着光芒的前卫摇滚作品。

Over the course of a full album, the relentless barrage might grow exhausting. But at just 21 minutes, Hands Up doesn’t overstay its welcome, and it will be interesting to see how the band evolves as the young duo grow.

如果放在一张完整的专辑中，这种持续不断的轰炸可能会让人感到疲惫。但《Hands Up》全长仅 21 分钟，恰到好处，不会让人感到冗长。随着这对年轻组合的成长，期待看到他们未来会如何进化。

Cold Court’s \ (^_^) / is available on most major streaming platforms, including Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music, Qobuz, and Deezer.

Cold Court 的《\ (^_^) /》现已在大多数主流流媒体平台上线，包括 Spotify、YouTube Music、Apple Music、Qobuz 和 Deezer。