It's the first album of this Austrian band but before, they released an EP in 2012. Anyway forget the EP and start with this LP because it's just another band. Both are games with the New Wave but the EP is a bit simple when this new LP is just another matter.
So this LP is games with some New Wave from the end of 70's and beginning of 80's but there's a rather interesting shift. I'm not fan of most of the best known of the New Wave coming from the 80's. My problem isn't that I judge it's not interesting music but that at that time ton of groups jumped onto the genre and alas often it ends in making music around a too limited range of sounds, because that sound color was identified as "New Wave" which was on the hype. But that was a weird (and popular) shift of the genre. Moreover, during that period many bands evolved from a music with some edges to a rounded music much more Pop and honey. That was too much sugar at the same time and too much too similar stuff at the same time. And worse, the genre was just too popular at that time and too mainstream and this generated a lot too many too similar albums.
But I'm a fan of New Wave, in particular the two albums that are often considered the origin of New Wave and that are for me two great masterpieces, I mean the first two albums of Roxy Music, but not the honey/crooner Pop band's albums that followed. I could quote some other albums of New Wave I did like a lot and still like a lot as, Kas Product - Try Out, various The Nits albums before 1986 like New Flat or Adieu Sweet Bahnhof (Henk album is their masterpiece), Talking Heads - Remain In Lights, The Sound - Jeopardy, Baroque Bordello - Paranoiac Songs or Via, XTC - White Music or English Entertainment, some Devo albums, and some more. In fact I could also quote some New Wave that has been tagged later Post Punk because the New Wave tag had got a too negative fame and had evolved too much to a pure Synth Pop with a very identifiable sound color. So at first they was tagged New Wave and later has been tagged Post Punk like Joy Division, The Cure, Young Marble Giant - Colossal Youth, and more. And for a recent example of New Wave I like I can also quote The Pheromoans - Does This Guy Stack Up? commented in the blog.
So that first album of this young band is playing with New Wave but also a lot with the first two albums of The Cure that are two releases of their first album with same tracks but also some different tracks. That two albums are definitely New Wave, more than later Cure albums which are more… Cure stuff. But they are also different than the well-known New Wave color of that time and few after.
The singer uses many different voices on this album and that's quite interesting. But also on many tracks the singer uses even a voice that reminds quite a lot Robert Smith. But it's not the virtuoso singer that was Robert Smith, but a Robert Smith that would be more direct, unpolished and slightly abrupt, ie a Robert Smith with some light Punk influences. And if the music and sound color reminds in part the sound of the New Wave of the 80's, there's quite a shift because it's merged with bit of acidity, with some edge and a sound slightly dirty.
It's definitely an homage and games with a genre and some albums, but the shift they apply to the New Wave is just great, ie a bit dirty, a bit acid and a bit unpolished. It's definitely an approach I would expect to listen at that time but never get the luck to find in the New Wave of the 80's. Moreover I have to admit that the variations and winks to the first two Cure albums is another great element for me because I'm just fan of those albums and much less of what followed, even if it had some ambition… beside all the theatrical gesticulations. So that album is for me great stuff, it's games with New Wave and in part with The Cure first two albums, and it's a New Wave with a shift, slightly acid, dirty, unpolished and with some edges.
To listen : Totally Wired label bandcamp page. Or 135k vbr preview.
To support the artists: Buy the 12" vinyl or digital.
Where all of this is going if nobody buy the music? Be fair, buy the music you like dig.
No comments:
Post a Comment