Phantogram
Eyelid Movies
Barsuk, 2010
www.barsuk.com
www.barsuk.com
As the first track began to play from my iMac while I was getting ready for work, I thought, "Ughh. Indie-Electro." After a few more seconds, I thought, "Ughh. Indie-Electro with female vocals." I swear to god, I physically felt my testosterone level drop.
As my wife walked into the room while the second track played, I suddenly felt embarrassed and slightly ashamed. It was like she had caught me in the middle of some deviant, disgusting act or walked in on me crying or something. I tried to recover as quickly and naturally as possible. "Uh, you need to listen to this too because it's what we're reviewing." She listened for a second and said "sounds boring." I hoped my temporary, unexplained insecurity and drop in self-confidence had not been detected. Women pick up on that like f***ing bloodhounds. I felt like I needed to do a bunch of push-ups or something. It was a horrible feeling and I hope to never experience it again.
Here's the thing. This music is not bad. It's actually kind of pretty. Imagine the Postal Service with infinitely better sequencing, some guitars, more talent and replace Ben Gibbard's awkward
man-boy persona with the hipster girl of your choice. There are some genuine hooks here and some nice programming. The girl's vocals are good, but sound like countless other female vocals. The guy sounds like.. I don't know, a guy? Let's just say that neither one is offensive to the ears or anything. I admittedly have a very low tolerance for this kind of music. And when I say this kind of music I mean indie-electro-pop stuff. Like MGMT. Especially if it's.. pretty.
I totally have to be in the right kind of mood for music like this, and I don't even know what that mood is. But I guess that every once in a while I need to take a break from music that makes me feel good about myself.
man-boy persona with the hipster girl of your choice. There are some genuine hooks here and some nice programming. The girl's vocals are good, but sound like countless other female vocals. The guy sounds like.. I don't know, a guy? Let's just say that neither one is offensive to the ears or anything. I admittedly have a very low tolerance for this kind of music. And when I say this kind of music I mean indie-electro-pop stuff. Like MGMT. Especially if it's.. pretty.
I totally have to be in the right kind of mood for music like this, and I don't even know what that mood is. But I guess that every once in a while I need to take a break from music that makes me feel good about myself.
E says: Not bad. But I'll listen to Fever Ray instead.
L says: I wonder where all this shame is hiding while he is openly singing along to Michelle Branch.
(Note: Michelle Branch f***ing rocks!)