Ball of Wax 44 Songs: Colin Isler – Ribbons of Sun

“Ribbons of Sun” plays and listens like a typewriter. Colin Isler sings a line, leaves you to ponder what he’s just said amidst hmms, ohhs, and a Friday the 13th-esque tcha tcha tcha tcha. It has an eerie effect. and then cha-ching, the carriage resets and the song’s onto the next line. And the lines end with this discord. Or, skip the typewriter analogy. Instead, picture a clock ticking in the background that’s connected to some mad scientist’s contraption consisting of industrial scraps which is distilling ancient potions which will be used to convince the listener to “believe me.” But you must make it to the climax to really appreciate what Colin Isler is doing in this song. He’s building tension from the beginning, and then stop and enter the call, “Oh please, believe me,” and then he resolves it all back to where he started. And if you miss it, shame on you.