Through the first half of the 2000's,
DFA records struck upon something gold, even if they didn't realize
it yet. The formula was simple: Live Rock instrumentation + Dance
music = a good time. The result was what publications have gone
on to call "Dance Punk", recalling the early 80's, but
bringing in the modern dance renovations of Club music. Bands
like !!!, The Faint and Hot Chip spread these forefathers' philosophy
all across the country, revealing scenesters' silliness at refusing
to get their asses on the dance floor and start moving.
Personally, I don't think the genre had
nearly enough top-tier albums before dying down, which is why
I'm so pleasantly surprised by Cut Copy's sophomore album, In
Ghost Colours. It so impeccably fuses dance music and indie pop
that one would have trouble recalling a time when the two genres
were at all separate. They're akin to a more poppy version of
LCD Soundsystem, abusing all the arm-crossing, stand-still hipsters
at a show with irresistible, hip shaking grooves, leaving them
no choice but to move to the beat.
But let's get rid of the modern cultural
implications here; Cut Copy are just a ridiculously catchy Techno
band. They aren't doing anything that Depeche Mode (or even more
recently, The Rapture) didn't do before, and you'll be mistaken
to think that there's any sort of cultural milestone hidden within
In Ghost Colours' spinning keyboards and sharp rhythmic guitars.
All they have are insanely catchy melodies and toe-tapping beats
to match. But they accomplish it with so much charisma and fearlessness
that you can't help but get caught up in their ever-swirling daze.
"Feel The Love" is the mission statement, mixing Futureheads-style
hooks with whimsical Disco breakdowns and shameless usage of a
vox-box that seem to invite the listener to let go and embrace
the cheese. If you do so, you'll be rewarded with the bass-led
dance punk of "Feel The Music" and "Nobody Lost,
Nobody Found" or "So Haunted", which glamorously
fuses avant-noise with a rock-star arena chorus. "Hearts
On Fire" meanwhile is a straight-forward club track with
"uh" voice samples and layers of spacey synths.
Between each of these 80's dance-offs are
cloudy sound collages of vocal clips and samples that recall Animal
Collective (see "Eternity One Night Only") and do away
with any overbearing qualities that could've so easily plagued
a retro-release like this. As a matter of fact, similar to M83's
Saturdays = Youth, In Ghost Colours perfectly fits into 2008 despite
it's dated influences. I think what we're seeing is a vigorous
response to everyone who said in the early 2000's that all the
bands bringing retro influences back to the forefront of musical
consciousness was just a phase. The bottom line is that truly
timeless music doesn't just stick to it's decade. It continues
to inspire and be reinterpreted in an infinite number of ways,
sometimes in a form that's just as fresh as the original was.
In Ghost Colours is such a case. (Aron Fischer)
For
fans of: Techno, Franz Ferdinand, Futureheads, The Rapture, LCD
Soundsystem, !!!, Hot Chip, Depeche Mode, Avalanches
|
