++ALBUM++ review by Emily Kendrick
With all the chaos of the last few weeks, we almost forgot that Artrocker club stars So So Modern were releasing this marvellous LP! How could we? Emily kendrick takes us through the New Zealand band's collection of trail blazing 7"s...
If you missed it, one of the most mind-blowing bands in existence released a total of four 7”s over the course of a month in 2007, and are graciously cementing them back to back on this chronological collection.
Friends & Fires and 000EP’s takes a squelch synth basis and runs riot with it through modes of phosphorescent funk, rambunctious punk and experimental epics.
"Finally, synthesised music has evolved beyond gurn-fests and pre-teen moshing..."
The rhythmic fluidity of their live sets is captured perfectly here: the drums seem to have to their own melody as they weave through the vocal blocks. The mathematical musings just keep coming, creating synthesised UFO noises, as on ‘Future Cities’ - a number to which you can only imagine travelling through the space time continuum.
Challenging as this all may be, the band are enthralling with their blend of the high octane (‘The Love Code’) and sinister modes of post-modern pop (Untimely Demise Of…’). The roughshod nature of overlapping vocals aids this unpredictable journey, as the three synth-wielders break the upper echelons of their ranges.
Akin to Test Icicles had that troupe actually had substance over style, ‘Contracts’ draws upon shouted, duelling refrains. Yet SSM are an altogether more convincing dalliance.
Synthesisers have been well observed in the world of computer gaming but here they’re not merely sound effects used to spice things up. Stick ‘Racer X’ on your Mario Kart and you’re assured an unsettling ride – its opening bubbling synths and engine noises expand into taught guitars and unified stabs of conviction.
Finally, synthesised music has evolved beyond gurn-fests and pre-teen moshing. So So Modern may not have reinvented the spacecraft, but the Dolorean is in sight.
++ Emily Kendrick ++
Artrocker rating: 4
The newest sounds as heard in the Artrocker Office and our Resonance FM podcast.
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