Simian Mobile Disco - Attack Decay Sustain Release
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Artist: Simian Mobile DiscoEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2007-09-11
Music Label: Interscope Records
Soundtracks:
- Sleep Deprivation
- I Got This Down
- It's The Beat
- Hustler
- Tits & Acid
- I Believe
- Hotdog
- Wooden
- Love
- Scott
- Clock - Bonus Track
- System - Bonus Track
Music reviews of Attack Decay Sustain Release
Music Review: A Barrel (Half) Full of Monkeys
Rating: 3 Stars
I was never a big fan of the original Simian, although I did like a few of their songs (the best of which were often featured on car or soap commercials). Their music had an electro-epileptic tweakiness to it, as if in the search of the perfect minimalist hook, all they could come up with was the aural equivalent of a nervous tic.
Simian Mobile Disco features a longer name but half as many members. Having fewer cooks means the broth has more creative spice to it, but there's still that odd, underformed flavor. The duo of Ford and Shaw are still bravely blazing the techno corridors of pulled-back pop, but that means the album as a whole sounds like a case of trial and error. It's not like I fault the disc for lacking any kind of consistent sound, but I do fault it for its inconsistent quality.
I wish I could say what cripples it most, but there's no pattern to it. The songs that work range from jaw-busting dance ("Sleep Deprivation" and "It's the Beat," which has a cameo by Ninja from The Go! Team) to a sort of floofy, fun house trance ("Clock," which reminds me a lot of the lighter stuff by TFSOL, and "Scott"). I really like how they play with shaved off sound, techno-tinctured tinbeats sparkling along the groove lines of the songs.
But, overall, the album's wings are crippled by a basic lack of borders. Every once in a while you'll catch a track that has a high-sheen vocal track that's so silly and tired that the rather nice electronic backdrop is drowned out ("Love," for my part, being the best -- or worst -- example of this.) And, worse, some of the songs stale quite fast. On my first listen, I kind of liked "I Got This Down," but on my second time around, I wondered how anyone who wasn't drunk could find it enjoyable on any level.
On the whole, I won't say it's a bad album, but it fails to inspire any of the things its genre flopping songs want it to. And if the title is any indication of the record's goals, I'll say, for now, only one of those words is apt.
Description of Attack Decay Sustain Release
ANALOGUE PARTY MUSIC begins here!U.S. VERSION INCLUDES TWO EXCLUSIVE TRACKS!
ATTACK DECAY SUSTAIN RELEASE is the debut album from SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO.
The electronic duo is comprised of James Ford and Jas Shaw formally of experimental indie band Simian. The two took to playing DJ sets after Simian gigs and thus the "mobile disco" took on a life all its own. Coming into the spotlight with the ubiquitous dance-floor remix of Justice vs Simian's "We Are Your Friends" SMD found themselves embraced by dance music fans who were looking for more. When crafting original compositions in earnest, James and Jas purposefully chose to exclusively use analog equipment giving their arrangements a distinct, human quality. Those who lent their voice to SMD include Go! Team frontwoman, Ninja and one time Simian band-mate, Simon Lord.
Simian Mobile Disco have an instinctive knowledge for what will work on any dance-floor and now they've used that instinct to create the most invigorating dance album of 2007.
The Simian Mobile Disco is coming to your town: do not even attempt to sleep.
Dance music should be pretty simple. Take one good slice of melody, surround it with atmosphere and attitude, then add layer after layer of gripping, stomping rhythms…, OK, maybe it's not that simple. But James Shaw and James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco make a strong argument for simplicity on their stripped-down debut record. The production duo, who formerly worked together in the psychedelic electronica outfit Simian, have downsized their approach and created a piece of acid house/techno that profits greatly from an uncluttered, direct mindset. From an influence/genre perspective, there's nothing direct about it at all, actually. There are dashes of early Aphex Twin, more than a little Daft Punk, and some 808 State to boot. But it's all mixed up with breezy electro-styled production, which gives the music a sparse and snappy pulse that creates space and complements the duo's songwriting. There are times when it doesn't work, as the boys have cranked the mid-range so high it can sound tinny and hollow; "Tits & Acid" should be a stomper, but somehow never really takes off. Other songs are compromised by the choice to crank the vocals so hot in the mix, like "Hotdog," which can't hide its too-silly central lyric. Still, when it works, it really works. Shaw and Ford understand the need to evolve a song, as tracks like "It's The Beat" and the wonderful, whirligig "Wooden" start here and end up over there. Your love affair with Attack Decay Sustain Release may be more like a one-night stand and you'll probably hate yourself in the morning, but your regret will be tempered by a silly grin that won't fade until lunchtime, at least. --Matthew Cooke
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