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29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Things tighten up on their sophomore LP, with a little help from an LCD., April 8, 2008
Bright Like Neon Love came out 4 years ago and was an excellent debut album from this Aussie electro indie band. I liked it a lot, but couldn't helped thinking when listening to it, that it was on the cusp of something grand, where maybe not even the band realized how close they were to pushing up and over that edge. Album co-producer and LCD Soundsystem member Tim Goldsworthy may have been just the extra touch they needed to push this exciting band to the upper realms of electronic indie land.
The songs really tighten up and there are a lot more lyrics and vocal tracks than their debut LP. It also clocks in at over 50 minutes, while Bright Like Neon Love was under 43 minutes. Gone are some of the elongated electro instrumentation with a few strips of interlaced vocals found on Bright Like Neon Love. These songs are much more pop aligned, and judging by the strength of some of them, enough to extend their listening audience to an even broader range.
There's a treasure trove of catchy tunes, including the opener, Feel The Love, the progressive rocker So Haunted, and the unexpected leftfield turn when the chorus kicks in during Lights and Music. 80's backing electronica is again the theme, especially on Far Away, where you could have placed it onto any new wave, synth-pop album between 1984 and 1987 and no one would have even noticed. The dreamy interludes are a nice touch, as they glide and connect us through 15 tracks without a bad hitch at any of the stops along the way.
Harmonious from top to bottom and very well produced, this 2nd album is one of the best examples of how talented, non-mainstream, electronic artists can really be. I wish the band much success, and let this highly recommended album do the rest.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Evolution means change, not improvement, April 27, 2008
It seems like most other reviewers are applauding this album for having more lyrics, stronger pop sensibilities, and for sounding more like New Order in their heyday. I'm going to buck the trend just a bit to say that you might be put off a little bit if you were hoping for a more faithful follow-up from Cut Copy's debut album.
Yes, lyrics and vocals on "Bright Like Neon Love" - the debut - were sparse and repetitive. In that way, the debut album was similar to some of Daft Punk's work. I loved the debut album for its grooves, sounds, and the feelings it evoked. Lyrics and vocals were not the selling point, for me.
While there is some carry-over in format as far as groove and instrumentation from the debut to "In Ghost Colours," the songs on this latest release conform more to a verse-chorus-verse structure. And although the amount of vocals and lyrics have been doubled, I wouldn't necessarily say that they've doubled in profundity or quality.
So what are we left with? "In Ghost Colours" is an enjoyable album that should still hold a strong appeal for fans of artists such as Daft Punk, Cassius, and Datarock. At the same time, Cut Copy has definitely moved further into classic New Wave territory.
Evolution refers to a change over time. Some people confuse that with progression, or improvement. In this case, I can't really say that I think Cut Copy has improved, but they have changed. The quality of "In Ghost Colours" rivals and in some ways surpasses "Bright Like Neon Love." However, comparing the two is - to use a cliche - a bit like comparing apples and oranges. They're different, but hey, they're both fruit.
In conclusion, I'm giving this album 4 stars out of 5 because I personally and subjectively found the shift in format to be a little off-putting. I will have to look to other artists for music that is in the same vein to Cut Copy's debut release, "Bright Like Neon Love." On the other hand, my wife and I are enjoying this album and I expect that it will grow on me more. Pound-for-pound, the cuts on this album are probably technically better "songs" than the tracks from the debut. So please don't let my words discourage you from picking up either this or the original. I could say more positive things about "In Ghost Colours" but I feel other reviewers have done well enough at that.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Prepare to be assimilated!, May 31, 2008
Track 1 `Feel the Love' starts off mid beat, a feature which foreshadows this indie-pop trios avante-guard style. This kick start allows them to develop the wispy and synthetic sound effects so that by 60 seconds into "In Ghost Colours" you're already in the middle of a pop song. If you like the faraway, deep but nasally sounding vocals of Peter Bjorn & John, then you'll enjoy the style of Dan Whitford on this album.
If I had been a consumer of more 80's music, I could probably drop a lot of references, but alas, I thought most of it was crap when I was listening to grunge and industrial rock. However if you are a fan of that era, this album is definitely for you, and by the end of the second track, you'll forget this is a new album. Because where `Feel the Love' starts off feeling 80's wannabe, by `Lights and Music' it's 100% 80's - samples, electro bass-funk, winding keyboards, and all! Robotic vocals atop synth keys really do create that 80's environment. If I didn't know better, I'd swear they somehow slipped in the soundtrack to the arcade version of Ninja Gaiden. Somehow they pull it off with a modern feel though, because it's catchy, not annoying and cliché. At times sounding a bit like PB&J, and others like Robert Smith meets Julian Casablancas, they span the genre fairly well with this accessible release.
They seem to use the short tracks `We Fight For Diamonds' and `Voice in Quartz' as ambient interludes. Transitioning styles between the indie-pop feel and the 80's flashback.
Many folks reference Daft Punk when talking about this band, but that's a mistake. The heavy handed hardcore electronic beats Daft Punk is known for are substituted here with pop-riffs and soft-tronica. Again, an underground 80's reference would be handy here, please refer to paragraph 2.
Standout tracks are `Lights and Music' for it's authentic 80's happy groove and 'Strangers In The Wind' for it's uniqueness, busting out the Moody Blues' slide guitar. If you want to cut to the chase and see what you're in for with this album, listen to the first 20 seconds of `Far Away' it's a microcosm of the aftertaste given to us by Cut Copy.
I'm rating this 3.5 stars, but giving it the benefit of the doubt!
-thanks for reading!-
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