<strong><span class="s1">Bosnian Rainbows<br/> </span>Bosnian Rainbows</strong><br/><strong>Clouds Hill</strong><br/><strong> <span class="s2">***</span></strong> <span class="s1">The former Mars Volta linchpin Omar Rodriguez-Lopez isn’t one for the lowest common denominator approach. One self-titled solo album comprised five lengthy instrumentals whose titles were in Dutch and, in 2007, he recorded an EP with the queen of post-punk anti-commercialism, Lydia Lunch. </span> <span class="s1">His new outfit’s eponymous debut trades the prog-rock excesses of The Mars Volta for a more song-based approach that’s broadly aligned with Siouxie & The Banshees’ gothic pop. That said, their tuneful experimentalism makes them difficult to pigeonhole. </span> <span class="s1">The textured opener <em>Eli</em>, all cinematic drones and eastern-flavoured foreboding, sounds somewhat de--coupled from the rest of the selections here, and to these ears, the rubbery, somehow dread-inducing <em>Morning Sickness</em> is a much more appealing listen. Teri Gender Bender, aka Teresa Suarez of the Mexican garage-punk band Le Butcherettes, has clearly been an inspirational foil for Rodriguez-Lopez. Her elegantly icy vocals are the main draw on the quirky <em>Torn Maps </em>and the taut, angular <em>Worthless</em>, two Bosnian Rainbows songs that get tantalisingly close to that mythical pot of gold. </span> <span class="s2"><strong><a href="mailto:artslife@thenational.ae">artslife@thenational.ae</a></strong></span> Follow us Follow us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thenationalArtsandLife">Facebook</a> for discussions, entertainment, reviews, wellness and news.