With a whirling blend of electronics and a stomping glam beat melded to a fat, fuzzed out bass, ‘Absolute Zero’ positively hollers Muse. Thankfully, the vocals, backed off in the mix, and the overall arrangement isn’t nearly as bombastic or pretentious as the pseudo-space age rock of the Devonshire uberlords of pomp, resulting in a song that’s more focused on groove than histrionics, and it’s a fair way to kick off an album that’s infinitely better than its cover might suggest.
Stylistically, ‘Stereo Space’ is broad in its range, with ‘Everywhere is Beauty’ twisting a Police-like reggae sound through a Thomas Dolby-esque electro filter to create something really quite unusual. Wifestink’ delivers a scathing swipe at self-delusion, materialism and the concept of happiness (a theme he returns to on the final song, ‘Are We Happy Yet?’) has a Squeeze / XTC feel to it. ‘How Not to Be’ is a hyped-up bass-driven punk explosion, while ‘Ricochet’ is a swamp-synth stomper with clear post-punk leanings .There are some quirky instrumentals, too, that break up the end-to-end hook-filled pop tunes with an idiosyncratic, cookie edge.
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There are a few less than shining moments: the hectic scat of ‘Spider Bait’ is rather dubious and doesn’t really work, especially when coupled with bad synth doodles lifted straight outta 1985.
Despite its diversity, there’s a distinctly late 70s / 80s feel to the album, partly on account of the compositions and perhaps to a greater extent on account of the sounds, and not just the synth tones, either: the flange on ‘Keith’s Drum Machine’, not to mention the robotic vocals is definitely of a certain vintage in style.
Pilesar Online
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