Customer Reviews

Attack Decay Sustain Release

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'll admit, Simian Mobile Disco's "Attack Decay Sustain Release" is by no means an album that has hidden elements about it that you will discover through many listens. All this album does is provide 10 (12 with the two bonus tracks) compulsively danceable cuts that will have you on your feet for over 40 minutes straight.

Simian Mobile Disco consists of two former rockers that decided to get into the Acid House genre, which has been around for quite a while now. Simian definitely follows the belief that newer gear does not necessarily mean better. Along with Daft Punk and Justice, these two producers use analog gear that holds onto the human mistakes that old electronic gear has, and the lo-fi synths definitely gives this album that old school feel. Highlights include their biggest single "It's The Beat" featuring vocals from the lead singer of the Go! Team, "Sleep Deprivation", "Love", "I Believe", and the second bonus track "System". From start to finish, this album will keep you up without pause. SMD by no means break any ground with this release, but they create an irresistible "good-times" album that will have you remembering why music makes us dance. Highly recommended!

While I was really impressed with about half the tunes on this album, the other half, mainly vocals, were not my type of music. On the whole, it's all very good, well-constructed music. I just wish all of it had been instrumental, instead of being half vocals.

Solid album all the way through. If you like Justice or Digitalism then this will fit nicely next to them on the shelf.

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.

I bought this album after first hearing the tracks Sleep Deprivation and Scott on Yahoo Lauchcast radio. I was disappointed to find out that most of the tracks suffer from vocals that are not only cheesy, but lame.

Anyway, if you just listen to the non vocal part of the songs, these guys really do have a gift for progessing a song through various sounds and building a song that is interesting to dance to, and even to sit and listen to. But for me, the vocals just ruin the ride.

These guys remind me of Fischer-Spooner, except that the lyrics seem to come from the mind of a young child. Maybe this is what they were after, but for me most of the songs are irritating.

Worth the purchase for Sleep Deprivation and Scott alone, the bonus tracks are good, and I can tolerate a couple of tracks 2-9...

First seven tracks or so are bonkers.. this album is defintely worth buying if you are into indie club music.. or electronica for that matter!

Una vez leí una reseña que calificaba a SMD como los mejores imitadores de Daft Punk. Estoy de acuerdo parcialmente.
Es el mismo género que el duo francés ha llevado a las partes más altas de los Tops y a todas las pistas de baile en el mundo, sin embargo el Simian Mobile Disco también ha venido haciéndolo muy bien, a su modo y sin pegarse a la fama de nadie. Con temas tan potentes como I Believe, tan pegajosos como It's the beat y tan melodiosos como Love este disco fue muy representativo del dance del 2007.
100% recomendable

I give ADSR for stars because I don't listen to enough of this type of music (electro-clash/dance) to give it a 5-Star review. But, I can say that I do like this album, more than what I thought I would. To be honest with you it sat in my shopping cart (on iTunes) for like a month, but eventually I just bought the damn thing. When it comes to electronic music, I like artists such as Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, BT, Gorillaz, Oakenfold; groups of that nature and this album is indeed much different from all of them. More dance, more groovey in your face beats then what I was used to, but they sound really great. I had heard "I Believe" on an internet radio station and thought it sounded cool but I wasn't totally sold on it. To my surprise, the entire first half of the album has been very cool, and the other songs might grow on me. Not something I could listen to every day, but ADSR is undoubtedly a sophisticated piece of work with a lot of energy packed into it. Simian Mobile Disco most definitly prove there talent here. Check it out! My favs are the first 7 tracks.

This CD is always fun. Pop it on at anytime. Driving, dancing, as your alarm.

This album is a mixed bag. Half of it is quite good while the other half is pretty awful. I applaud SMD for trying the electro/acid house sound. As this album displays they're successful about 50% of the time. The tracks which stayed on my iPod are rated below while the rest were pulled off after one listen. Hustler, Tits & Acid and It's The Beat (even though it sounds cheesy like Technotronics "Pump Up The Jam" it's horribly catchy) were the stand out tracks for me. Below are my ratings;


1. Sleep Deprivation 7/10
2. I Got This Down 8/10
3. It's The Beat 7/10
4. Hustler 10/10
5. Tits & Acid 10/10
6. I Believe 2/10
7. Hotdog 1/10 absolutely the worst track on the album.
8. Wooden 7/10
9. Love 2/10
10. Scott 2/10
11. Clock 2/10
12. System 2/10

Overall the album is worth a listen and a few of tracks might stick with you like they did with me. There's nothing ground breaking here but clearly SMD has talent, even if it's hit and miss.