Ladytron
604
[Emperor Norton]
Rating: 7.0
To paraphrase Grace Slick, "If you can remember the '80s, you never suffered
any serious head trauma." Ladytron remember the '80s very, very well. These
youngsters fly the new wave flag and keep feeling fascination, passion burning,
love so strong. But Ladytron's musical interests stretch back before MTV, to
'70s Bowie, Roxy Music, Kraftwerk and Cluster. They're like an unabridged
Encyclopedia of musical Eurotrash with a sharp pop sensibility. And with
604, they've made a fine debut full-length.
I had a pronounced tinge of déja vu when listening to 604, but it wasn't
the retro sound that made me feel like I'd been here before. It was the fact
that three of the songs here were on the band's four-song Commodore Rock
EP. Looks like they missed the memo from the Department of Redundancy
Department. Don't you hate that? You probably didn't buy Commodore Rock,
though, so you're not going to mind the overlap. In fact, if this is the first
time you're hearing "Play Girl," you'll be damn glad they decided to include
it on both their releases. It's an ace pop song that Allen Hunter would have
been proud to announce the world premiere of, and it would have sounded great
between Nena's "99 Luftballons" and "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'" by
Bananarama and Fun Boy Three. Great stuff.
"Play Girl" is sung by Helen Marnie, and with her relaxed, breathy tone, she's
definitely the more engaging of Ladytron's two vocalists. "Another Breakfast
with You" is another great track she fronts, with a fat Moog drone that gives
it the feel of early Stereolab. "The Way That I Found You" is the third major
score for Marnie, with a bouncy, anthemic melody over some dark, Naked-Eyes
style keyboards. These three songs approach new wave pop perfection.
Mira Aroya is around to give the more "arty" tracks a serious Continental
flair. Her deep, Bulgarian-accented voice is used both for humor (as with
"Paco!," where she offers a tour of a department store over a dense electro
background) and to provide a dark, gothic element to the background (as on
"Discotrax"). When Aroya and Marnie come together to sing the Kraftwerk
homage "He Took Her to a Movie," which borrows its melody and hook from "The
Model," both slip into robotic Ralf and Florian mode with excellent results.
Rounding out the album are several instrumentals that range from dreamy
computer love ambience ("CSKA Sofia" could be from the second side of
Autobahn) to dense analog synth textures in the style of Add N to (X)
("Laughing Cavalier"). The tracks on 604 are sequenced intelligently
and keep this slightly overlong album purring along nicely. Latter-day new
wave may be old hat, but there's still room for it when it's done right. Enter
Ladytron.
-Mark Richard-San