STEREOLAB
Fab Four Suture
Too Pure
·The new robots (same as the old). Even on their most mediocre day, Stereolab is better than the rest.
Stereolab’s surprise drop from long-term label Elektra last year (following the somewhat less than ecstatic response to last year’s Margerine Eclipse) resulted in a seemingly atypical response – extensive touring and an increase in production.
Compiled from a series of limited edition tour-only seven-inch singles, Fab Four Suture continues the Stereolab tradition of perfectly structured and executed pop. While "Get a Shot of the Refrigerator," and the paired-up "Kyberneticka Babicka Pt 1’ and ‘Pt 2," certainly sit nicely alongside the rest of Stereolab’s mighty discography, much of Fab Four Suture falls easily into the toss-off category. Originally recorded on the quick and intended for consumption in bite-size pieces, as a whole Suture is occasionally somewhat underwhelming.
"Visionary Road Maps" lives up to its title with a meandering melody and structure while "Whisper Pitch" is downright gorgeous and slow. "Eye of the Volcano" holds the grand lyrical bon mot, "We treat our bodies like machines / Fascism within," one of Laetitia Sadier’s finest turns of phrase. There’s nothing particularly new here, but that’s the thing with Stereolab – even when they sound exactly the same as they always have, they still manage to somehow sound ahead of everybody else.
|
Copyright ©2006 FFWD. All rights reserved.