EAR PWR
SUPER ANIMAL BROTHERS III
CAR PARK RECORDS
Panned as self-regarding electro-hipsters in the States, Baltimore duo Ear Pwr rake together a half-assed mélange of bouncy Pokemon house, Italo disco, Baltimore club and twee banalities about cats and trainers. Released on Car Park, home of Wham City figurehead Dan Deacon, this is the chancer’s corner of the scene, where sub-CSS posturing is favoured over solid craft. Wacky without being at all fun, their slipshod mash-up fare would function better as either dance or punkish ‘party grenades’ if they employed heavier sounds or increased b.p.m’s, but the tracks just seem to toddle along inconsequentially in a haze of coy irony, impacting on your consciousness like a cereal advert. Sarah Reynolds’ muppet-baby yap grates interminably, although she does spout nice J-Pop melodies when singing about her lovely new sweater.
John Calvert
3/10
DOWNLOAD: SUPER ANIMAL BROTHERS III, BEAM OF LIGHT
FOR FANS OF: DAN DEACON, FUTURE ISLANDS, CSS
Filed under: Album Reviews, Album Reviews: Noted Artists, Recommended Albums | Tags: Electroclash, Hip Hop, Peaches, Techno
PEACHES
I FEEL CREAM
BEGGARS XL
Contending with the likes of Uffie’s delinquent skank-hop or The Teenagers’ kitsch Euro-filth, lately even Madonna’s vagina-heavy promos conjure more edgy revulsion than Peaches’ Spartan electroclash and nastified old-skool rapping; haemorrhaging novelty with every release.
Modification is necessary then for this her fifth album, with James Ford’s opulent craftsmanship enlisted to house her newfound feminine sensitivities. The softer approach begins with the markedly vulnerable ‘Lose You’ and on ‘Talk to me’ we eavesdrop in on the digi-punk tigress as she laments her persona for deterring romance. On the title track, a dejected disco-soul enigma, she might even let Johnny Safety-Word be on top.
It’s difficult to sympathise, though, when you’re facing a transdermal sex-crime everywhere else on the album. Naturally, Peaches is most entertaining when hunting startled man-candy, like on the lecherous ‘Mommy Complex’ and the Soulwax-produced ‘Showstopper’, in which her techno-punk wrath is righteously dispatched. On the Lil’ Kim-mugging ‘Billionaire’ she’s teamed with Yo Majesty’s Shunda K who’s always ready with a unique turn of phrase: “I’m a diamond in the muff/ Big Trouble in Little Mangina”.
All of which has the nutritional value of edible panties but is as hook-ridden and instantly gratifying as is customary for Peaches. When interpolated with diva-glamour and guarded emoting, the result is her most well-rounded offering yet.
John Calvert
8/10
DOWNLOAD: ‘SERPENTINE’, ‘SHOWSTOPPER’, ‘TALK TO ME’
FOR FANS OF: SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO, UFFIE, HAR MAR SUPERSTAR
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